Vox: How the global gag rule undermines Ivanka Trump’s plan to empower women
“Ivanka Trump has her next project. The president’s daughter and senior adviser is heading the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, which seeks to economically empower women in foreign countries. … But the biggest barrier to the initiative’s success might be another Trump administration policy: the global gag rule, a federal directive that prevents organizations abroad from receiving [global health foreign assistance] from the U.S. government if they discuss, let alone perform, abortions. … Gender equality advocates are skeptical Trump’s initiative can be as effective as the White House says it will be if reproductive rights are left out of the conversation, according to an analysis of the initiative by the Coalition for Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality. … A recent report from [the International Center for Research on Women] found that, across 97 countries, each additional child reduces a woman’s labor force participation by 5 to 10 percentage points…” (Fallert, 2/24).