Bush Expansion of Global Gag Rule Expensive, Unwelcome and Immoral
Washington, DC - February 20, 2003The Bush Administration’s plans to attach more expensive red tape and needless restrictions to international HIV/AIDS assistance and other international reproductive health programs have been strongly condemned by Population Action International (PAI).
"The bottom line is: Does this policy help to save more lives? Clearly the answer here is ‘no.’ It erects walls between vital services, when it should be tearing them down," says Amy Coen, President of Population Action International.
The Administration confirmed its intention to shift its policy late last Friday, stating that the Global Gag Rule would be expanded to every possible aspect of international reproductive health care programming, including organizations working in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and even violence against women.
Coen continues, "In his State of the Union address, the president pledged an additional $10 billion to fight HIV. But so far, he’s only committed a portion of the money and now he’s slapped more red tape and more regulations on organizations that are already overburdened and underfunded."
The Global Gag Rule (also known as the Mexico City Policy) bars U.S. funding for any organization that uses its own non-U.S. money to provide legal abortions, to talk to its patients about the availability of legal abortion — regardless of the woman's health status — or to advocate changes to its own country’s abortion laws. However, in reality, the Global Gag Rule is not about abortion but is a de facto ban on providing women with the comprehensive reproductive health care they need and which is legal in their country.
The long arm of this reinvigorated Gag Rule would include programs as diverse as the State Department’s reproductive health program for refugees and USAID programs for maternal and women’s health. In what the Administration is calling a ‘compromise’, the extension would not apply to organizations that counsel on or perform abortion as long as their HIV programs are discrete. What a discrete HIV program looks like remains to be seen.
Coen says, "This proposed policy risks compromising the health of women in the world’s poorest countries — at a time when they need help so badly. What will service providers have to do to receive U.S. funds? Maintain separate accounts? Separate clinics? Separate staff? And how much money will be left to provide services?
"Access to contraceptives for women in desperate need couldn’t be more important at this point in history — when half the world’s population is under the age of 25 and half of new HIV infections are young people.
"Mr. Bush: Isn’t it time to stop your war on women and support the human rights they deserve?" asks Coen.
Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.
