Momentum in Washington to Eliminate the Global Gag Rule

On July 29, 2010, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed an amendment to the bill that funds U.S. foreign aid programs; this amendment, written by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ),  would permanently overturn the Mexico City Policy, commonly known as the Global Gag Rule.

The Global Gag Rule denied U.S. aid to any overseas organization that used its own funds to perform or promote abortion. Doctors, midwives, and nurses could not even mention the word abortion—much less provide abortion services with their own funds—even if abortion was legal in their country, or if a woman asked. Organizations that did not meet this condition lost all U.S. funding, including essential supplies of contraceptives.

President Barack Obama reversed the Gag Rule in 2009, but a future administration could reinstate the policy. The Lautenberg amendment would make the elimination of the gag rule permanent law.