Opinion Piece Examines Implications Of Mexico City Policy For Global Reproductive Health Services, U.S. Funding

The Hill: Under Trump there has been a takeover of global public health services
Heather Benjamin, program officer at the Open Society Foundations

“The Mexico City policy (global gag rule) prohibits foreign [non-governmental] organizations that receive U.S. government funding for health services from engaging in abortion-related services or advocacy. … One of the reasons the global gag rule is so destructive, is because it prohibits organizations from engaging in abortion-related services, referrals, or advocacy, even when using their own money — money not provided to them by the U.S. government. … Under previous Republican administrations, the rule was limited to funds specifically dedicated to family planning. … The Trump administration has expanded this old policy… As a result, the impact it will have on health services and advocacy will be all the more widespread and devastating. … Hundreds of organizations are now being forced to make an impossible choice: either abandon their commitment to reproductive health and rights by signing the rule, or refuse and lose their U.S. [global health] funding and risk having to shut down other life-saving health services…” (11/20).

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