Tag: Global Gag Rule

The global gag rule not only prohibits U.S. foreign aid for abortion care; it also prevents foreign organizations from using their own, non-U.S. funds to provide abortion services, information, counseling, referrals or advocacy. Since its creation in 1984, the policy has been repeatedly issued by Republican presidents and rescinded by Democratic presidents.

Keeping Score: Right-Wing Activists Spread Disinformation on Birth Control; Larry Nassar’s Survivors Reach $138.7 Million Settlement; Breast Cancer Screenings Should Start at Age 40

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on emergency abortion care and criminalizing homelessness; new EEOC and Title IX regulations protect sexual violence survivors, pregnant people and the LGBTQ community; Arizona repealed their 1864 abortion ban, while Florida now has a six-week ban; birth control misinformation goes viral on TikTok; the United Methodist Church repealed their ban on LGBTQ clergy; the chilling effects of the global gag rule; three in five Americans support a national law protecting access to medication abortion; and more.

The Case for Safe Abortions for Refugee Women

On the eve of International Women’s Day, President Biden will deliver his State of the Union address. Kate Cox, a Texas woman denied access to abortion to terminate an unviable pregnancy that threatened her health, will attend as First Lady Jill Biden’s guest. Cox was able to travel to another state to access a safe abortion. While she should never have been put in that position in the first place, thankfully, she was able to get care.

Globally, options for women who are refugees are often significantly more limited. That’s why Congress must provide increased funding for international family planning programs, without any new restrictions.

How Congress Can Help Women and Girls in Conflict Zones

U.S. foreign policy prevents the protection of refugees, those in conflict zones, and those impacted by natural disasters. Yet the House Appropriations Committee has chosen to pass a budget that will defund the agencies and programs that are most prepared to expertly respond to the needs of girls and women on conflict zones.

It is far past time that Congress passes the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act, which will repeal the Helms Amendment; and the Support UNFPA Funding Act, which would restore funding to UNFPA for the next five years. With the stroke of a pen, the Biden administration also has the power to issue guidance to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Helms Amendment interpretation, preventing a chilling effect and expanding the agency’s reach.

Keeping Score: Florida’s New Extreme Abortion Ban; Democrats Urge Investigation on Clarence Thomas’ Misconduct; Abortion Pill Fight Heads to Supreme Court

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: Dueling federal rulings on the abortion pill mifepristone set up a Supreme Court fight; Senate Judiciary hearing set for ethics investigation into Clarence Thomas; HER Act proposed in Congress to end global gag rule; Tennessee state Reps. expelled for protesting gun violence following mass shooting in Nashville; Biden’s Title IX amendment would prevent some bans on transgender students in sports; N.D. Senate votes against free school lunches while increasing their own meal reimbursements; women disproportionately owe on student loans; and more.

U.S. Overturn of Roe Will Embolden Anti-Abortion Movements Abroad

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ruled that there is no U.S. constitutional right to abortion, will have ripple effects around the world. It will embolden anti-abortion movements abroad, contribute to global stigmatization of abortion, cause confusion for policy implementation and open the door for new restrictions—all of which will negatively impact the health, economic resources and well-being of women throughout the world.  

Losing Roe v. Wade Is a Matter of Global Significance

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Where we have tended to divide the United States artificially from the rest of the globe on issues of human rights, we can do so no longer. When Roe falls here, it will reverberate around the world. And as country after country laps us on the route to progress, that will reverberate here in turn.

Maybe in the wake of Roe’s demise, we will take inspiration from our global colleagues and muster, at long last, the collective resolve needed to craft a permanent legislative solution preserving the right to choose safe abortion.

The Fight to Secure U.S. Abortion Rights Is Global

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Overturning Roe v. Wade will unleash devastating rollbacks on abortion across the United States, while also impacting U.S. foreign policy. Already, the Helms Amendment, Siljander Amendment, global gag rule and other restrictions form a collective—and deadly—U.S. foreign policy package that has had disastrous impacts on global health, including an increase in maternal mortality, unsafe abortions and HIV infections, as well as a decline in the overall quality of healthcare.

While the forthcoming decision, and its catastrophic fallout, is not likely to have an immediate global impact, it will undercut efforts to remove these restrictions and embolden the anti-abortion lobby to further instrumentalize U.S. foreign policy to promote its ideology.

Rolling Back Abortion Rights in the U.S. Will Send Shockwaves Around the World

It is distressing to think that the United States, once a global leader in women’s rights, could erase 50 years of progress in a single moment. We’ve seen how anti-choice policies in the U.S. tend to embolden the opposition around the world.

We stand in solidarity with the millions of women in the U.S. who could see their reproductive rights cruelly stripped away, and with the many more across the globe who may see their national abortion laws tighten as a result.