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 Since its creation in 1984, the policy has been repeatedly issued by Republican presidents and rescinded by Democratic presidents.

Losing Roe v. Wade Is a Matter of Global Significance

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

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.

Hangover Remedy: Passage of a Permanent Repeal of the Global Gag Rule Is the Cure

It’s been a year since the Biden administration announced the rescission of the global gag rule, but a nasty hangover of its harmful effects remains. The stroke of a pen does not undo the harm of a policy designed to deny access to comprehensive reproductive health services.

The only way to ensure we, as a global community, don’t end up in this situation again is for Congress to take action to permanently bring an end to the global gag rule and pass the bipartisan Global Health, Empowerment and Rights (Global HER) Act.

Keeping Score: Democrats Demand Repeal of Global Gag Rule; Sexual Harassment Is Now a Military Code Offense; Black Voters Eager to See First Black Woman 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 in this biweekly round-up.

This week: Mississippi abortion ban threatens future of Roe v. Wade; McDonald’s employees pursue anti-sexual harassment and discrimination training; Democrats demand permanent repeal of global gag rule; California signs Equal Pay Pledge; same-gender couples face $30,000 income gap; and more.

abortion bans

The U.S. Can’t Be a Global Leader on Democracy While Banning Abortion at Home

Last month, the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments in a case that could set off a new era of abortion bans across much of the country. December also marked the start of President Biden’s Democracy Summit.

Yes, the U.S. faces an unprecedented crisis for the right to abortion. Before its next Democracy Summit, the Biden administration should make a real commitment to ending all anti-abortion policies that cause the U.S. to fall short of its democratic aspirations.

Chrissy Houlahan Introduces 'Support the UNFPA' Act: The U.S.'s "First Line of Defense is Taking Care of People”

Chrissy Houlahan Introduces ‘Support UNFPA Funding’ Act: The U.S.’s “First Line of Defense is Taking Care of People”

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) re-introduced the Support UNFPA Funding Act, which reaffirms the United States’ commitment to the United Nations Population Fund and gender equality around the world and authorizes an annual contribution to the UNFPA for five years when passed. With commitments from the Biden administration and previous bipartisan support from Senators Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Collins (R-Maine), not only can the act pass the House of Representatives—it is likely to have a companion bill pass the Senate as well.

Katherine Clark Introduces Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights Act

Katherine Clark Introduces Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights Act: “We Owe It to the Global Community”

“State Department reporting on violations of reproductive rights should not be subject to whiplash between the policies of the occupants of the White House. Congress has an important role to ensure that the U.S. is consistently and unbiasedly reporting on the rights violations that impact women around the world, without political interference.”

Katherine Clark’s Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights Act would require the State Department include reporting on contraception and abortion access, STD rates and prevention efforts, maternal health, and rates and causes of pregnancy-related injuries and death, including unsafe abortions.