Donald Trump announced a flurry of explosive executive orders Monday during his inaugural address as he returned to the Oval Office – two of which included initiating the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization and the policy of recognizing only two sexes.
As he signed over 100 executive orders in a move that broke away from his predecessors, reproductive rights activists waited anxiously for what Trump’s next move would be regarding abortion rights and sexual health information.
What is the Mexico City Policy aka the ‘Global Gag Rule’?
One significant policy that human rights organizations are dreading the reinstatement of, is the Mexico City Policy, also known as the “Global Gag Rule.”
The policy, first implemented by President Regan in 1984, was created to prevent any foreign organizations that receive U.S. global health assistance from “providing information, referrals, or services for legal abortion or advocating for access to abortion services in their country — even with their own money”, according to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Setting this policy in place meant that education and safe practices in foreign countries, as well as abortion services through U.S. aid, became prohibited.
Since Reagan, every Republican president has reinstated the policy including Trump in 2017 when he renamed it “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance.” Joe Biden, like Democratic leaders before him, removed it after he came into power in 2020.
Dr Alvaro Bermejo, the Director General for the International Planned Parenthood Federation told The Independent Monday: “Donald Trump’s return to power represents a direct assault on those seeking lifesaving sexual and reproductive health care.
“Trump’s proposed executive actions are deadly; and designed to strip away bodily autonomy for LGBTQ people, women, and girls.
“Expanding the Global Gag Rule not only threatens the right to end a pregnancy safely, it compromises the integrity of entire health-care systems.”
What was the effect of Trump’s implementation of the GGR in 2017?
When Trump re-implemented the policy in 2017, it meant that all access to contraception was reversed along with safe sex and reproductive health services in countries that receive aid from the U.S.
Not only did this affect women who required abortion services, but it expanded to affect a broader range of funds dedicated to global health concerns such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and nutrition, in places such as Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.
The result: increased unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and preventable deaths.
According to MSI Reproductive Choices, by refusing to certify the rule, “they lost 17% of [their]annual donor income in 2017”, were unable to help an estimated 8 million women as a result, could not prevent an estimated 6 million unintended pregnancies, nor 1.8 million unsafe abortions, and 20,000 maternal deaths.
What impact could a reinstatement of the policy have on global health?
Dr Laura Gil, chair of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics told The Independent: “The executive orders signed by President Trump and the anticipated reinstatement of the global gag rule threaten the health and well-being of women, girls, and pregnant people – especially among marginalized and underserved populations.
“Such a regressive approach by the US regime is perhaps the single greatest threat to health and reproductive rights worldwide.
“It represents an attack on women’s health and will lead to greater rates of unsafe abortion and maternal mortality.”
