Women Want the Global Gag Rule Gone for Good

[niyad]

Women Want the Global Gag Rule Gone for Good

Thirty years ago this week, the Ronald Reagan Administration announced at an international conference in Mexico City a harsh new policy that set the U.S. on a course of playing partisan politics with the lives and welfare of women around the world.

The “Mexico City Policy,” also known as the Global Gag Rule, denied U.S. family planning funds to any foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides, lobbies for or counsels on abortion, even when using its own resources. It has not remained in effect for those 30 years, though: It was rescinded by Bill Clinton in 1993, reinstated by George W. Bush in 2001 and rescinded by Barack Obama in 2009.

Evidence demonstrates that when implemented, the policy has not only limited women’s access to abortion information and services, but also disrupted basic family planning services, such as the provision of contraception by NGOs that became ineligible as a result of it. More recent evidence demonstrates that the policy has led to decreases in overall funding for family planning assistance, which puts women’s health in jeopardy.

In between this ping pong of presidential executive orders, Congress has attempted many times to legislate the Mexico City Policy into or out of existence. The introduction during the current Congress of the Global Democracy Promotion Act, which would prohibit the U.S. from imposing restrictions on foreign organizations that would be unconstitutional if applied to organizations in our own country, is the latest such attempt. And the fact that it was introduced by two female members of congress, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) is telling. My research has shown that, over the years, a far higher percentage of Republicans have voted to make the Mexico City Policy permanent than have Democrats, and this partisan divide has increased steadily over time.

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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/08/11/women-want-the-global-gag-rule-gone-for-good/