Rewire: The Effects of the Global Gag Rule Are Being Felt Everywhere
Melvine Ouyo, reproductive health nurse at Family Health Options Kenya, and Alexa Henderson, medical student at Ohio State University and member of the national board of Medical Students for Choice

“…As health care providers, present and future, our ethical duty to cause no harm, protect our patients’ safety, and save lives is paramount. That’s why we feel compelled to speak out against the Trump administration’s unjust and dangerous policy … which censors health care providers and restricts the services we can make available. … [The Mexico City policy, also known as the global gag rule,] has always taken the form of an executive order that the White House occupant can unilaterally impose or rescind. We must continue to elevate the issue and implore U.S. lawmakers to enact the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (HER) Act in Congress, which would create a permanent legislative repeal of the global gag rule, prevent a future president from reinstating the policy, and end the senseless suffering of people, particularly women and girls, worldwide. … We must resist Trump’s war on women at every turn and fight back against his destructive policies at home and abroad by demanding Congress members pass the HER Act to permanently repeal the global gag rule…” (7/2).

Project Syndicate: Ending America’s Global War on Reproductive Freedom
Tlaleng Mofokeng, vice chairperson of the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition of South Africa

“…[H]ealth care professionals in South Africa — and far beyond — are raising the alarm about Trump’s expanded [Mexico City] policy. … [N]ew strategies are needed to fight the global gag rule. … [D]eveloping countries need to begin moving away from conditional aid that restricts health providers’ ability to work in accordance with local laws. … But just as important as domestic support is backing from U.S. lawmakers … [P]assage of the HER Act would create a permanent, legislative repeal of the global gag rule, and return a sense of apolitical morality to U.S. foreign aid. … In South Africa, every woman has the legal right to control and make choices about her reproductive health. But that right is being trampled by a form of neocolonialism that ties aid to the political whims of the U.S. party in power. South Africa’s people have decided to enact one of the world’s most liberal abortion laws; politicians 8,000 miles away should not be allowed to reverse their choice” (7/3).