Women's Health Clinics Around the World Will be Forced to Close Under the Mexico City Policy Olivia Becker - VICE News
go to original January 25, 2017

"Women Will Die Because of This": Planned Parenthood on Trump Signing Anti-Abortion Global Gag Rule (Democracy Now!)

The Trump administration has made it clear that it will keep abortion in its crosshairs for the next four years. The new president has even taken aim at abortion overseas, signing an executive order on Monday reinstating the so-called Mexico City policy ban on taxpayer money going to any NGO that performs or provides counseling on abortions abroad.

The move has drawn widespread criticism from international aid groups and health experts who say it harms public health. By cutting off U.S. aid, the policy forces many healthcare providers to close, taking away services from disadvantaged people who desperately need them.

“Trump’s Global Gag Rule will obstruct and destroy the work of health care providers who are often women’s main — and sometimes only — source for reproductive health care, and their entry point for receiving a wide range of primary health care services,” Suzanne Ehlers, the president of PAI, a global reproductive rights organization that opposes the policy, said in a statement.

The Mexico City policy is hardly new, dating back to the Reagan administration. Since it was first adopted in 1984, the ban has been renewed by every Republican president and repealed by every Democrat. The long history of the policy means that the effect of Trump’s decision can be accurately predicted; according to numerous studies and public health organizations, the policy has had an overwhelmingly negative health impact worldwide, not just on abortion access but to female and maternal health care generally.

Read the rest at VICE News

Related: Trump's Expanded Mexico City Policy Could Affect Fight Against Zika, HIV/AIDS (NBC News)

Related: What the Mexico City Rule Means to Women Around the World (Post Observer)

Related: Donald Trump Is the Most Unlikely Anti-Abortion President Ever (Newsweek)

Related: Doctors Without Borders Statement on the Reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy (Médecins Sans Frontières)

Related: News Outlets Examine Possible Impacts of Expanded Mexico City Policy on U.S. Global Health Aid, Women’s Health Worldwide (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Related: Does Trump’s Mexico City Policy Ban Funds to Groups That ‘Even Mention’ Abortion? (The Washington Post)

Related: Netherlands Wants to Set Up an International Fund for Abortion (Associated Press)

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!