“President Trump just issued guidance to reinstate the global gag rule—and women and girls around the world will pay the price.
“The global gag rule’s sole purpose is to export US anti-abortion ideology to the rest of the world. It has done this by blocking non-US organizations that receive US global health assistance from using their own, non-US funds to provide abortion services, refer people for abortions, or speak out in support of abortion access in their own country, even where it is legal.
“We know from the last time Trump imposed this policy, in 2017, that the harm of the global gag rule to reproductive health is far-reaching and long-lasting. Guttmacher research has documented its severe ripple effects, including stalling and even reversing progress in expanding access to modern contraception in countries like Ethiopia and Uganda. Now history will sadly and shamefully repeat itself, and people in many countries will find it harder to access safe abortion, contraception and other critical health services.
“The new gag rule will not be in effect until official guidance is approved and issued to grantees. Guttmacher’s policy and research experts will closely monitor the global gag rule once it is implemented and track its impact. We will also work with our partners globally and redouble our efforts to permanently repeal this devastating policy, so that future presidents cannot reinstate it with the stroke of a pen.
“The reinstatement of the global gag rule makes clear that the Trump administration is eager and ready to dismantle sexual and reproductive rights both in the United States and around the world.”