Today, Donald Trump signed an anti-abortion executive order that has severe and far-reaching consequences for women’s reproductive health access worldwide. Trump reinstated the Mexico City policy, also known as the global gag rule, which was first put in place by Ronald Reagan in 1984. It prohibits giving United States funding to international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that offer or advise family planning and reproductive health options if they include abortion. This executive order has implications that could be deadly for women and girls in developing countries, who often have to resort to unhealthy methods of terminating their pregnancies when they lack access to safe abortion. It also thwarts the accessibility to birth control, emergency contraceptives, and HIV prevention efforts. It is terrifying that the gag rule is the first executive order made after the Women’s March. It truly reveals how Trump is deaf to women. The gag rule was reinstated by men who are restricting the opportunities of millions of women around the world. Men and women have worked extremely hard to make advancements in reproductive science. Reproductive rights should be open and determined by women. It is the science of women, the bodies of women, and the lives of women.
Donald Trump Reinstates Abortion Global Gag Rule
Reproductive Rights and Justice: National Organization for Women
FEMISCIENCE 