- Comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Family Planning
- Women, Girls, and HIV
- Maternal Health
- U.S. Foreign Policy & Funding
- Watch: Making U.S. Foreign Assistance Work for Women and Girls in Ethiopia
- Female Condoms and U.S. Foreign Policy
- Family Planning Policy Restrictions and HIV
- U.S. Global Health Initiative
- Global Gag Rule
- Helms Amendment
- Foreign Assistance Budget
- Foreign Assistance Reform
- Kemp-Kasten Amendment
- Abstinence & Fidelity
- Anti-Prostitution Pledge
- Advocacy and Foreign Assistance
- Why Women and Girls?
Global Gag Rule
First put in place from 1985 to 1993, the Mexico City Policy (Global Gag Rule) stipulates that nongovernmental organizations receiving U.S. assistance cannot use separately obtained non-U.S. funds to inform the public or educate their government on the need to make safe abortion available, provide legal abortion services, or provide advice on where to get an abortion. The policy did allow for exemptions in the cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother, but not for a woman’s physical or mental health.
Documentation and analysis of the impact of the Global Gag Rule has shown that the policy restricts a basic right to speech and the right to make informed health decisions, as well as harms the health and lives of poor women by making it more difficult to access family planning services. It has also been found that the policy does not reduce abortion.
President Barack Obama repealed the provision on January 23, 2009. His statement called for a new approach to family planning, one that would end the politicization of women’s health around the world. Since the repeal, advocates have been working to ensure that future presidents cannot reenact the policy without the approval of Congress.
Related News
- The New York Times: High Court Weighs Dispute Over AIDS Funding
April 22, 2013 - Huffington Post: The Right to Fight AIDS
April 22, 2013 - U.S. spends N450bn on Nigeria’s health sector programmes in 10 yrs – Envoy
April 18, 2013 - Alicia Keys campaigns for HIV education
April 16, 2013 - United States Announces $10 Million in Support for G-8 Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative
April 11, 2013 - Reuters: Prostitution policy splits NGOs in top court AIDS case
April 10, 2013 - Huffington Post: Why the Global Fund Is a Terrific Investment
April 8, 2013 - As anti-prostitution pledge heads to Supreme Court, public health leaders file brief against it
April 4, 2013
Related Publications
- US Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally: What Does it Mean for SRH?
The 2012 United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally is the country’s first comprehensive, multi-sector approach to gender-based violence. What does it mean for sexual and reproductive health? - Fact Sheet: U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security
The United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (NAP) was issued by executive order by President Barack Obama in 2011. What does it say about sexual and reproductive health and rights? - U.S. Global HIV Policy: Combination Prevention
This paper outlines why the U.S. must support a true combination prevention strategy, one that scales up proven biomedical tools, integrates sexual and reproductive health services into HIV prevention, and addresses social barriers to HIV prevention. - Infographic: AIDS-free Generation? Not Without Women
We can't create an AIDS-free generation without women: Visualize the numbers. - GHI Implementation and Sexual and Reproductive Health in Guatemala: A Progress Report
A preliminary analysis of the U.S. Global Health Initiative in Guatemala finds that resource and policy constraints are a barrier to progress. - GHI Implementation and Sexual and Reproductive Health in Ethiopia: A Progress Report
A preliminary analysis of the implementation of the U.S. Global Health Initiative in Ethiopia finds that a focus on women and girls is already making a difference. - Sexual and Reproductive Rights and the U.S. Global Health Initiative
The U.S. Global Health Initiative (GHI) is a comprehensive policy approach that seeks to strengthen and increase the efficiency of existing U.S. global health programs. - What Does Family Planning Have to do With HIV? Everything.
Voluntary family planning is an indispensible component of HIV prevention and treatment.
Related Links
- Americans for UNFPA
- Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)
- Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR)
- ForeignAssistance.gov
- International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
- International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC)
- Ipas
- PEPFAR Watch
- Population Action International (PAI)
- Prevention Now!
- Reproductive Health Matters
Email This Page
Share This Page
