Global Gag Rule Pros And Cons
Soy (2017) reports that United State’s president Donald Trump has not only reinstated Ronald Reagan’s 1984 global gag rule, but has taken it a step further to extend the ban to cover all organizations receiving global health assistance. In addition to causing a large setback the progress of many organizations that seek to aid some of the world’s unmet need for family planning, Trump’s extended ban could also contribute to increased numbers of abortions and deaths in Africa.
The global gag rule forbids US family planning aid from going to specific organizations that use separate funds to provide abortion information or services. The Trump ban goes further by furthering the ban to cover all global health assistance provided by all agencies
(Soy 2017). Charles Hirshman writes that “Perhaps the most important defining for policy makers is the availability of family planning services, measured by the proximity to clinics, does have measurable effect on contraceptive use (Hirshman, 1994, 226).” As many of countries in Africa where abortion is illegal or there is a high unmet need for contraceptive use, Trump’s ban will inexplicably further restrict the already limited access to contraceptives. Women will have increased unwanted pregnancies and will turn to unsafe methods of abortion. As Soy mentions that this could cause more deaths in Africa as absent US funding, over 1.8 million unintended pregnancies could occur; more than 660,000 abortions will happen and over 10,000 maternal deaths (Soy 2017).
With the ban’s extension, organizations that offer additional services like HIV/AIDs testing, malaria prevention, primary care, and STD/STI testing would lose funding if there is any abortion counseling within the organization. Those services not only reduce the number of deaths related to HIV and malaria, but also improve the quality of life in areas with needy individuals.
“improvements in reproductive health can contribute to gender equality, child health, universal education, halting the spread of HIV and reducing poverty overall”
The global gag rule forbids US family planning aid from going to specific organizations that use separate funds to provide abortion information or services. The Trump ban goes further by furthering the ban to cover all global health assistance provided by all agencies
(Soy 2017). Charles Hirshman writes that “Perhaps the most important defining for policy makers is the availability of family planning services, measured by the proximity to clinics, does have measurable effect on contraceptive use (Hirshman, 1994, 226).” As many of countries in Africa where abortion is illegal or there is a high unmet need for contraceptive use, Trump’s ban will inexplicably further restrict the already limited access to contraceptives. Women will have increased unwanted pregnancies and will turn to unsafe methods of abortion. As Soy mentions that this could cause more deaths in Africa as absent US funding, over 1.8 million unintended pregnancies could occur; more than 660,000 abortions will happen and over 10,000 maternal deaths (Soy 2017).
With the ban’s extension, organizations that offer additional services like HIV/AIDs testing, malaria prevention, primary care, and STD/STI testing would lose funding if there is any abortion counseling within the organization. Those services not only reduce the number of deaths related to HIV and malaria, but also improve the quality of life in areas with needy individuals.
“improvements in reproductive health can contribute to gender equality, child health, universal education, halting the spread of HIV and reducing poverty overall”