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).
The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.