Congress to Hold Hearing on the Negative Impact of the Global Gag Rule

October 29, 2007—The Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule, will be in the spotlight at a U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on October 31. The hearing is part of a plan to reinform Congress of the damaging effects of the Global Gag Rule, which greatly restricts the provision of family planning services. The hearing comes on the heels of recent victories in both houses of Congress with respect to the policy. The House version of the Fiscal Year 2008 foreign assistance bill has a provision that allows organizations to receive U.S. donations of contraceptives. The Senate bill goes further, revoking the Global Gag Rule altogether, but President Bush has threatened to veto any bill that overturns the current policy.

The Global Gag Rule stipulates that international organizations receiving U.S. family planning assistance cannot use their own funds to provide abortion, counsel or refer for abortion, or lobby for the legalization of abortion in their country. Organizations that do not comply with the policy lose funding and essential supplies of contraceptives. President Ronald Reagan first established the Global Gag Rule in 1984. It was later rescinded by President Bill Clinton, and then was reestablished by President George W. Bush in 2001. Since its reinstatement, 20 developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have lost U.S.-donated contraceptives (Population Action International). Many organizations and clinics that have lost U.S. support have been forced to reduce services, lay off staff, or shut down entirely. A lack of family planning services usually leads to more unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions.

In August, members of Congress visited a Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) clinic that had at one time been supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development through an EngenderHealth project. Here, where family planning efforts have been significantly curbed, the delegation witnessed the devastating consequences of the policy. The former Executive Director of PPAG, Dr. Joana Nerquaye-Tetteh, will give testimony at the Congressional hearing along with other population and reproductive health experts on how the Global Gag Rule jeopardizes reproductive health.

Earlier this month, EngenderHealth’s president and vice president of programs visited Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) at her offices in Washington D.C to support her efforts to fight the Global Gag Rule and preserve U.S. funding for international family planning programs. As the appropriations process continues this fall, we will continue to advocate for the repeal of the Global Gag Rule, which limits men’s and women’s access to essential family planning services.