30th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, January 22, 2003
FIVE STORY IDEAS ON ABORTION

Every seven to eight minutes, every day, somewhere in the world, a woman dies from an unsafe abortion.  That's at least 70,000 deaths a year.  These women are not dying from a disease we can't treat.  They are dying because they live in countries where abortion is illegal, or not available.  And unfortunately, the United States is partly to blame. 

With Roe v. Wade turning 30 on January 22, 2003 and Congress getting ready to consider a number of dramatic anti-abortion bills, it is no surprise that the current public debate on abortion is almost exclusively focused on the domestic agenda.  However, the current U.S. Administration's insistence on injecting its domestic anti-abortion stance into its foreign policy also warrants attention as it puts at risk the lives of millions of women and children, while infringing on the right to free speech - a right that Americans cherish regardless of their view on the abortion issue. 

Key among these international anti-abortion policies is the Mexico City Policy, better known as the "Global Gag Rule."¹ The Global Gag Rule was reinstated by President Bush on his second day in office, on the 28^th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.  This policy prohibits non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive USAID funds from using their own, non-USAID funds to provide legal abortions, counseling and referrals for abortion, to lobby their own governments in support of abortion rights or to conduct public education campaigns about abortion.  Anti-abortion lobbying, however, is still allowed and flourishing under the Global Gag Rule. 

The Global Gag Rule effectively forces foreign NGOs that receive USAID funds to make an impossible choice between: 1) continuing to receive USAID funding that may be vital to keeping clinics open and health education programs running at the cost of denying patients and clients essential abortion services and information, and 2) continuing to provide a full range of reproductive health services and information - including abortion - but losing all USAID funds. 

The Global Gag Rule is not about preventing U.S. public funds from being spent on providing or promoting abortion abroad.  That issue was "solved" in 1973, through the Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act, which explicitly forbids such use of funds.  Instead, the Global Gag Rule focuses on prohibiting NGOs from spending their own money on activities that are constitutionally protected in this country.  Many see the Global Gag Rule as an attempt by President Bush to appease the powerful anti-abortion lobby in the United States without taking the political risk of limiting American women's right to choose.  In doing so, this country is now exporting a deadly double standard.

By limiting not only what the recipients of USAID funds can do but also what they can say, the Global Gag Rule tramples freedom of speech by denying foreign NGOs the right to participate fully in their own political processes.  If it were directly applied in the United States, the Global Gag Rule would be unconstitutional.

In looking at the Global Gag Rule and its purported goal of exporting a "culture of life," it is important to note that regardless of their legality, abortions take place in every society.  The Alan Guttmacher Institute, the world's leading abortion research agency, has showed that there is little correlation between the legality of abortion and the rate at which it occurs.  In many countries where abortion is illegal, such as Peru, Chile and Kenya, abortion rates are very high.  In countries where abortion is legal, such as the Netherlands, abortion rates are often very low.  While there is little relationship between legality and incidence, there is, however, a very strong correlation between abortion legality and safety.  Making abortion illegal simply forces women away from safe health care services and well trained providers into the hands of back-alley abortionists.

Useful resources for covering the Global Gag Rule:

People who can give interviews or who can link journalists to other experts and to those with direct experience of the Global Gag Rule:

• Lovisa Stannow, Pacific Institute for Women's Health (PIWH), (310) 478-5330
  
• Mark Daley, Population Action International (PAI), (202) 557-3446
  
• Rebecca Wind, Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), (212) 248-1111, ext. 2203
  
• Jean Cleary, Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP), (917) 637-3617
  
  

Websites with significant, up-to-date information about the Global Gag Rule:

• www.populationaction.org
• www.crlp.org
• www.guttmacher.org
  
  

• "Why the Global Gag Rule Undermines U.S. Foreign Policy and Harms Women's Health," Population Action International
• "What You Need To Know About the Global Gag Rule Restrictions," Population Action International
• "Global Gag Rule: Exporting Antiabortion Ideology at the Expense of American Values," Alan Guttmacher Institute
• "The Bush Global Gag Rule," Center for Reproductive Law and Policy
• "Despite a Ban, Teaching Safe Abortions in Kenya," New York Times
• "Abortion in Context: United States and Worldwide," Alan Guttmacher Institute
• "Sharing Responsibility: Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide," (.pdf) Alan Guttmacher Institute
  

¹The Mexico City Policy was introduced by Ronald Reagan in 1984, at the United Nations International Conference on Population in Mexico City.  The policy was rescinded by Bill Clinton on January 22, 1993, on the 20^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

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