Los Angeles Times: Trump’s new global gag rule will devastate health care in poor countries
Editorial Board

“…[T]he new Trump administration incarnation of the [Mexico City policy] is far more expansive [than previous iterations]. Instead of applying specifically to [foreign NGOs’] family planning programs, … [h]ealth care providers overseas working in HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, malaria, global health security, and other fields will be required to sign on the agreement. … State Department officials say that the gag rule is necessary to ensure that U.S. tax dollars do not support foreign organizations that ‘perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.’ But there is already a law in place that prohibits the use of U.S. funds for abortions. So the gag rule is … just a way to pressure — and ultimately punish — organizations that provide abortions or abortion counseling. … [P]roviders are faced with a horrible choice: either refuse to provide patients with necessary information or important reproductive rights services or sacrifice desperately needed funding from the U.S. … In the end, it’s possible that this anti-abortion policy will result in more abortions, not fewer. … The global gag rule will hamper the delivery of desperately needed health care in the developing world. If the administration truly cares about protecting life, it should scrap this policy immediately” (5/22).