"Lifting the Global Gag"

PAI (Population Action International) notes:

INCREASED RISK FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES
Among the many changes in the HIV/AIDS epidemic over the past two decades is its increasing impact on the lives of women. Where women once accounted for only a fraction of infections, almost 50 percent of all persons living with HIV/AIDS today are women. The disproportionate impact on women is most acute in sub-Saharan Africa, where women account for 58 percent of all HIV-positive adults.5 Family planning providers allow women to get the HIV/AIDS counseling, testing, and care they need in a familiar setting that is free from the stigma often associated with stand-alone HIV/AIDS programs.
The effects of the Global Gag Rule prove that health care policy that puts ideology before sound public health practices has a tremendous impact on service delivery. With so many lives at stake, the United States cannot afford to alienate, disparage, or leave out any provider or group of providers that is able to deliver cost-effective and comprehensive reproductive health services, including HIV/AIDS prevention. |MORE

In another report, PAI documents "How the Global Gag Rule Undermines U.S. Foreign Policy & Harms Women’s Health."

The Guttmacher Institute

The “global gag rule” complicates the already daunting challenge of meeting the growing demand for contraceptives in developing countries. In some countries, the effect has been disastrous... Organizations in Kenya and Ghana have had to terminate or curtail their community-based distribution programs, which are often the only means for getting contraceptives to women and men in rural and remote areas. |MORE

Addis Ababa University:

Most family planning groups agree that U.S. administration policy banning abortion services by federally funded agencies -- the “global gag rule” enacted by President Bush during his first days in office -- could not have come at a worse time for Ethiopian women. “We had to let go staff because we could
not afford to keep them,” said Sister Yeshiemebet Giorgis, clinic project coordinator for the family planning agency, Marie Stopes International. The London-based group lost U.S. funding for sticking to its belief that abortion counseling is part of providing comprehensive health care. |MORE

Dr. Isaiah Ndong expands his thoughts on RH Reality Check:

Over the past eight years, the impact of the "Mexico City" policy, also known as the "global gag rule," has "been harshest in parts of the world most in need of better health services," Ndong -- a physician who worked with EngenderHealth in Ghana at the time the rule was implemented -- writes... As a result of the policy, "entire communities" in Africa, Asia and Latin America "have seen their health care options compromised."

But we are at a turning point. President-elect Obama has the opportunity to repeal the Global Gag Rule, and we must put pressure on him to do so. No doubt there are a number of priorities that he must address immediately (the economy, two ongoing wars), but getting rid of the gag will cost nothing. Rather, it will be a symbolic move saying that the United States cares about women's health and rights and about the rural poor."|MORE

NARAL Pro-Choice America

Global Gag Rule: A Flawed Policy That Sacrifices Women's Lives

The global gag rule – reimposed on January 22, 2001 by President George W. Bush – prohibits the granting of U.S. funds to any overseas health clinic unless it agrees not to use its own, private, non-U.S. funds for: (1) abortion services, (2) abortion-related advocacy, or (3) abortion counseling or referrals.

The global gag rule is dangerous and unnecessary.

Since at least 1973, no taxpayer dollars have been spent to provide or “promote” abortion services overseas.
Access to international family-planning services is one of the most effective means of reducing the need for abortion.
This policy has had disastrous effects, causing clinics to close and supplies of birth control to diminish. |MORE

Laurie H. Zeller was a reporter with the Des Moines Register when she visited Ethiopia in 2006 with EngenderHealth. She was horrified by the suffering imposed by the Global Gag Rule:

When Ethiopia's largest independent provider of family-planning services, the Family Guidance Association, refused to sign the gag rule, said Amare Bedada, its executive director, his organization lost one of its two major suppliers of contraceptives, particularly the long-acting Norplant, which is in high demand in Ethiopia. It also lost a quarter of its funding from International Planned Parenthood Federation, which also had to forfeit money from the U.S. AID. The Family Guidance Association had to shut down outreach services in rural areas, leaving women to walk 30 miles or more. |MORE

Rep. Nita M. Lowey

President Obama and the new Congress can place American foreign policy firmly on the side of free speech, of women's health, and of doctors and care providers, who understand that family planning is a cornerstone of social stability, economic growth, and public health in the developing world. And we can do it quickly, simply, cleanly, without a penny of cost to the taxpayers.

Just repeal the "Global Gag Rule." |MORE