Trump's 'Global Gag Rule' On Abortion Hurts All Women

Reports are that notoriously thin-skinned Donald Trump was “visibly enraged” by the massive demonstrations of the Women’s March. Yesterday, with no notice and an inaccessible White House, Trump lashed out against women all over the world by greatly expanding the "global gag rule."

This rule, imposed on women by Republican presidents since Reagan in 1984, prohibits any involvement with abortion in order for an NGO (non-governmental organization) to receive funding from the U.S. for family planning. This means that an organization can’t even use its own money—not only in providing abortions, but for a physician counseling his/her patient as to the best care for her, or referring a patient to another place for that necessary medical care. It means that patients won’t have condoms to reduce HIV transmission.
This time, trying to show how YUGE his reach is, Trump didn’t just reinstate the rule, but extended it to muzzle and shackle all global health funding, not just family planning.

Our support for family planning in recent years was on the order of $600 million in foreign aid, according to Suzanne Ehlers, president and CEO of the global reproductive health organization PAI. Now the gag rule will potentially affect $9.5 billion, including programs ranging from HIV/AIDS to malaria to children’s health. Even PEPFAR, an initiative of George W. Bush that has been quite successful in reducing HIV/AIDS infections, may be hamstrung by defunding.
The U.S. hasn’t allowed use of federal funds for abortion since the 1973 Helms Amendment, and that the Helms Amendment applies internationally as well as domestically. In fact, gag rules that harm women are already widespread in the U.S. under the guise of “religious freedom.” Most people aren’t even being aware of their presence.
Many towns and rural regions have only one hospital, often Catholic. They collect taxpayer money (e.g., Medicare and Medicaid) but refuse to provide or allow family planning information and contraceptives, even to non-Catholic patients and by non-Catholic physicians. If you work in a Catholic health system, such rules exist. In essence, taxpayer funds (e.g., Medicare and Medicaid) go to support religious institutions that are imposing their personal beliefs on the entire public.
There is no evidence that the global gag rule reduces abortion, according to Wendy Turnbull, PAI senior advisor. Instead, loss of funding from this punitive regulation eliminates access to contraceptives for more than 225 million women globally, greatly increasing the need for abortion. It also increases pregnancy-related deaths by about 289,000. How is that “pro-life?”

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SOURCE: The Forbes