ADVOCACY: Fact Sheets

The Global Gag Rule: Undermining Women's Health and US Foreign Policy

View past version as PDF* | Spanish Version

Since the 1960s, the US has provided international family planning and reproductive health care assistance to developing countries around the world. For years, opponents of family planning in Congress have worked to place burdensome restrictions on US population assistance — restrictions that impede the delivery of crucial reproductive health services to the people who need them the most.

One such restriction is the Mexico City Policy, otherwise known as the Global Gag Rule. The Global Gag Rule prohibits US family planning assistance to foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide abortion-related information or services, even if these services are legal in their own countries and are funded with their own money. The rule prevents NGOs from even participating in public debates or speaking out on issues concerning abortion. 

The Reagan administration first announced this policy at the 1984 United Nations International Conference on Population in Mexico City, and it remained in place until President Clinton rescinded it in 1993. President George W. Bush not only reinstated the Global Gag Rule upon taking office in 2001, but in 2003 he also expanded this harmful restriction to programs supported by the US State Department, affecting vital reproductive health services to women in war-torn regions. Research conducted by a consortium of reproductive health organizations into the impact of the Global Gag Rule has since provided concrete evidence that the policy severly hampers the delivery of comprehensive health services around the world (see "Access Denied"). President Obama repealed the Global Gag Rule in January 2009. Read Pathfinder's statement.

What the Global Gag Rule Does

Family planning advocates have made concerted efforts to overturn the Global Gag Rule on the basis that it:

• Forces foreign organizations to choose between the laws of their own country and US policy in order to obtain critical US funding;
• Undermines US efforts to strengthen democratic systems and freedom of speech overseas;
• Has a “chilling effect” on the delivery of other health services when NGOs, fearful of losing their US funding, over-implement the rule, eliminating life-saving care such as treating women suffering complications from unsafe or botched abortions;
• May actually increase abortion rates by denying contraceptive supplies and services to organizations that refuse to abide by the gag rule;
• Infringes upon the sovereignty of other donor nations; and
• Lacks any evidence that the policy, in all the years it has been in effect, has reduced the incidence of abortion anywhere in the world.

Difficult Decisions and Dire Consequences

The gag rule is a political interjection of the domestic anti-abortion agenda into US foreign policy. The Global Gag Rule forces foreign organizations to face inappropriate and difficult decisions, trapping them between reliance on American foreign assistance and their own nation's laws and medical practices. 

An Anti-Democratic Stance

The Global Gag Rule contradicts US foreign policy. The United States spends billions of dollars in developing countries to support democratic principles such as freedom of speech and the right to participate in the political process. The gag rule undermines these principles by preventing any abortion-related discussion. The Global Gag Rule would in fact be unconstitutional if it were applied to US organizations. The fact that anti-abortion speech is permitted by the gag rule highlights the hypocrisy of the policy.

Over-Implementation or the “Chilling Effect”

Because of its far-reaching restrictions, the gag rule carries the threat of being over-implemented by foreign organizations that are fearful of losing crucial funding. Approximately 70,000 women die around the world each year due to complications from unsafe abortions. But while the Global Gag Rule does permit treatment for postabortion complications, some clinics are afraid to keep the equipment necessary for this care because they believe that others could misconstrue its intended use.

Limiting Reproductive Health Services and Supplies

When an organization refuses to agree to the Global Gag Rule, they forego the crucial contraceptive supplies and services typically supported by US assistance. As a result, the lack of contraceptive supplies may actually lead to an increase in the incidence of abortion in these countries. In addition, foreign organizations that refuse to accept the gag rule are often the most effective and efficient providers of family planning and reproductive health services in that country. US organizations are then forced to sever ties with those organizations, creating a severe gap in crucial health care services and supplies. US organizations must start the difficult and time-consuming process of identifying new local partners, scaling up services, training new personnel, and establishing reporting and oversight procedures. 

Infringing on the Rights of Other Nations

By imposing US dictates, the Global Gag Rule disregards the wishes and laws of other countries. An organization in a developing country cannot accept funding from one donor government for abortion-related services if they also wish to receive US funding. The gag rule forces cash-strapped organizations and clinics in developing countries to choose between crucial funding sources, rather than accept both. Even where abortion is allowable by national law, the Global Gag Rule bars local agencies and clinics receiving US funding from providing a legal service.

A Lack of Evidence

No evidence exists to indicate that the global gag rule has any ability to decrease the number of abortions performed worldwide, based on experience with the gag rule during the 1980s. Indeed, there is reason to believe that it has the opposite effect. To the degree that the Global Gag Rule prohibits providing basic family planning services and supplies to certain organizations, the gag rule may, in fact, lead to more unintended pregnancies, causing more women to seek unsafe abortions.

Access Denied: The Global Gag Rule Impact Project

Pathfinder International collaborated with several leading reproductive health organizations including Population Action International, Ipas, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and EngenderHealth, to study the impact of the gag rule on family planning and reproductive health services in the developing world.  The project was initiated soon after President George W. Bush reinstated the policy in January 2001.  The study, “Access Denied: U.S. Restrictions on International Family Planning,” originally tracked the effect of the gag rule in Ethiopia, Kenya, Romania and Zambia, and was expanded in 2005 to include Ghana, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

Some of the key findings of the study include:

• In Kenya, two of the leading family planning NGOs have closed five of their clinics as a result of losing vital US funding. Three of the clinics served more than 19,000 people combined.
• The Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE), the first NGO in Ethiopia ever to provide family planning services, sustained a 35 percent cut in funding because of its refusal to sign the gag rule, and has been forced to drastically cut back on its distribution of supplies and vital services.
• The Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ), Zambia’s leading family planning organization and the only NGO nationwide that operates clinics lost 24 percent of its funding due to the Global Gag Rule. PPAZ has had to cut back on clinic-based services and vital outreach programs to rural communities.

For more information, visit http://www.globalgagrule.org/

Back to top

*PDFs are viewed with the free Acrobat Reader