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Women’s Rights Regarding The Global Gag Rule Policy

Review of Literature

Shannon Kornegay

University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract

Women abroad are being robbed of their fundamental rights. This is due to a U.S Policy that is

called the Global Gag Rule (GGR). Women are being objectified by this policy and now by the

topic of abortion. 881,000 abortions were done in the U.S just in the year 2017. (Abort73) There

are hundreds of thousands of abortions happening yearly in the U.S. So, you must be asking why

is it any different for countries abroad? Well, countries abroad that receive any category of U.S

foreign assistance are not allowed to perform or even speak about abortions. Even if they use

their non-U. S funds to perform an abortion. Due to the fact that clinics are forbidden to talk

about abortion many have closed down and lost funding for not only abortion but many other

important healthcare including HIV and malaria protection and medication. The Global Gag

Rule Policy has been enacted and rescinded depending on what party is in office. Since we have

a republican party in office right now the policy is enacted. How is it fair that in the U.S abortion

is legal but in clinics abroad using U.S funding abortion is not legal. To make matters worse

Trump has set back so much development with his version of the GGR more than 40 countries

have liberalized their abortion laws and have invested into the well-being of women and

girls.(CHANGE2018) Due to the fact that this policy forbids abortion in U.S funded clinics

which is the majority of clinics available, women are forced to take matters into their own hands.

The rate of unsafe abortions has increased, and many women are dying because of unsafe

abortions.
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Women’s rights regarding the Global Gag Rule

Review of literature

The rights of women have been debatable regarding abortion. Many people have no knowledge

of the Global Gag Rule Policy and what it entails. Healthcare should be provided and be

accessible to women everywhere without a biased policy preventing from getting the healthcare

that they deserve. Many people are not aware that this policy even exists and is doing more

damage than ever. Women everywhere should have access to proper healthcare without a gag

being enforced that holds them back from getting the healthcare they deserve. Because of the

injustices that this policy has caused restricting women from getting the full healthcare that they

deserve, we must put an end to this harmful policy. This literature review analyzes the research

and the negative impact of this policy upon women.

The following questions should be asked to guide research:

1. Who is being affected by this policy?

2. What are the negative effects of restricting reproductive care for women?

3. What other aspects of healthcare are being affected by this policy?

4. How can we end this policy?

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Who is being affected by this policy?

The question as to who this policy is affected seems pretty obvious. Women mostly but, there are

so many other people being affected by this policy. This policy has affected many people who

are receiving HIV care. This is because HIV prevention efforts are heavily supported by the U.S

government and they have been heavily impacted by Trump’s version of this policy. Even

though the policy is thought to only affect safe abortions, it affects HIV treatment and prevention

programs. Non- governmental organizations (NGO’S) are also being affected by this because of

the fact that even before Trump’s version was enacted they were already struggling from funding

shortages because they decided to continue to provide abortions and abortion care. Now that

Trump’s version of the GGR is enacted the struggle for funding has gotten even harder for these

NGO’S. Because of the fact that these NGO’S are having shortages in funding some are forced

to close their doors and shut down. This means that there is one less clinic providing healthcare

for women, men, and children. Also, there will be no more access to HIV treatment or

contraception which has made a big problem even worse and it is affecting everyone. Adolescent

girls and young women (AGYW) account for 74 percent of new HIV infections among

adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa (Gender Health 2018). In conclusion, on the outside it may

seem that women are the only ones being affected by this policy. That is not true at all. Women

are the ones getting the worst part of it but this policy affects so many other people with different

health concerns. This policy has setback years of HIV and contraception efforts for women and

men.

What are the negative effects of restricting reproductive care for women?
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The negative effects that come from restricting reproductive care for women go on and on. To

start off this policy has:

 Prevented women and girls from accessing contraception and safe abortions consistent

with the laws in their countries.

 Been associated with increased abortion rates.

 Been associated with increases in unintended pregnancies.

 Led to negative child health outcomes.

 Hampered HIV prevention efforts.

 Forced health clinics to close.

 Obstructed rural communities’ access to healthcare

 Removed funding from humanitarian settings, which could have negatively affected the

speed and effectiveness of humanitarian aid.

(CHANGE2018)

The list of how this policy affects women really shows just how many negative affects come

with this policy. These women are living with the effects of this policy and are doing whatever it

takes to get the healthcare they need regardless if it is safe or if they come out alive. This policy

leaves these women with no other option than to perform an unsafe abortion not knowing the

outcome. In Figure.1 It is shown here in this survey that the entire comment section agrees that

this policy has a negative effect on women. Because the GGR is restricting reproductive care for

women that includes contraception availability. According to “reproductiverights.org” “214

million women of reproductive age in developing regions have an unmet need for contraception,

accounting for 84% of all unintended pregnancies in developing regions. If these women had

access to contraception, the number of unintended pregnancies, unplanned births and

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abortions would drop by nearly three quarters. That in turn would mean fewer maternal deaths

due to unsafe abortion, which range in the tens of thousands per year, mostly in countries with

restrictive access. This is especially critical for adolescents who are at greater risk of pregnancy-

related death and complications (center for reproductive rights 2018).

Figure. 1
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What other aspects of healthcare are being affected by this policy?

Many aspects of healthcare are being affected by this policy. Starting with HIV and AIDS

treatment and prevention. Since clinics are now closing their doors and shutting down the access

to contraception and treatment are not available in rural communities. “IPPF” estimated it would

lose $100 million in U.S. funding during the Trump administration, a loss that would hamper

IPPF’s ability to prevent 20,000 maternal deaths, 4.8 million unintended pregnancies, and 1.7

million unsafe abortions. This funding would have paid for:

 70 million condoms

 725,000 HIV tests

 Treatment for 275,000 pregnant women living with HIV

 Treatment for 525,000 STIs316

(Gender health 2018). As shown in the statistics above HIV is a major health problem in

countries receiving U.S funds. The GGR also prevents access to contraception.

According to “The Open Society Foundation” the U.S is a provider of nearly 50 percent

of the world’s HIV and AIDS funding (Public Health Program 2018). When the GGR is

enacted it is making it impossible to give healthcare to as many people as possible. These

countries rely heavily on the U.S to fund their clinics and provide them with the funds for

HIV treatment and prevention. Without these funds these clinics will be of no use to

anyone. Unless, get the policy rescinded.

How can we end this policy?

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The way that we can put an end to this policy is called the Global HER Act. The Global

HER Act would end the GGR policy. The Global HER Act is important because it would

require that any U.S foreign aid promotes healthcare that is free of discrimination and

prioritizes women’s health. The Global HER Act would require that U.S foreign aid is

consistent with the principals of the U.S meaning freedom of speech. Thus, removing the

gag on these people. The ACT would uphold and make sure that the patient has an

informed right to their own choice. The HER Act would benefit healthcare abroad for

women, men, and children. In Figure.2 it is shows that 100 percent of the survey takers

would get rid of this policy. Now all that we have to do is take action. According to

“genderhealth.org” what you can do to put an end to the GGR and support the Global

HER Act is call your member of congress and ask them to cosponsor the Global HER

Act. Also, as a member of congress, co- sponsor S.210 or H.R.671 and encourage your

colleagues to do the same (CHANGE 2018).

Figure.2
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Conclusion

In conclusion, this policy has little to no benefits for these people receiving funding abroad. It

has been proven by the facts that this policy causes more harm than it does good. It is proven that

this policy only sets back years of work on HIV prevention and progress that has been made

regarding healthcare. There are many websites, forums, blogs, and many more places that you

can find information about this topic. I learned when reviewing the results from my survey that 3

out of 4 people had no idea what the Global Gag Rule was or what it meant as a policy. As

shown in Figure.3. We as a country need to educate our people on our policy’s and us as

Americans need to be more involved with this policy and the subject of women’s rights. Being a

country that has freedom of speech and freedom for women to choose if they want an abortion or

abortion care or not we should provide that abroad. Everyone else who is getting funds from the
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U.S should get the same freedom that we do in our country. A policy like this would never be

passed in the U.S and it is very interesting that it is allowed abroad.

Figure.3

References

U.S. Abortion Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2019, from

https://abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/
https://abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/

P. (n.d.). How the Global Gag Rule Undermines U.S. Foreign Policy and harms Women's

Health[PDF]. PAI.

http://pai.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/PAI-Gag-PIB.pdf
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Global Gag Rule: How U.S. Aid is Threatening Health and Speech Worldwide. (n.d.). Retrieved
February 22, 2019, from https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/explainers/what-global-gag-
rule
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/explainers/what-global-gag-rule

Fact Sheet: The Global Gag Rule and Human Rights[PDF]. (2018, January). Center for
Reproductive Rights.
https://www.reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civicactions.net/files/documents/GLP-GGR-FS-
0118-Web.pdf

Prescribing Chaos in Global Health[PDF]. (2018, June). Change center for health and gender
equality.
http://www.genderhealth.org/files/uploads/change/publications/Prescribing_Chaos_in_Global_H

ealth_full_report.pdf

Global Health, Empowerment and Rights[PDF]. (2018, July). Change center for health and
gender equality.

http://www.genderhealth.org/files/uploads/change/publications/CHANGE_GGR_fact_sheet.pdf

Trump marks first week in office by betraying women[PDF]. (2017, January). Change center for
health and gender equality.

http://www.genderhealth.org/files/uploads/Trumps_Global_Gag.pdf