The Global Gag Rule

On January 22, 2001, his first official day in office and the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, US President George W. Bush issued an executive order reinstating the "global gag rule," a Reagan/Bush Sr. policy that bars family planning programs outside the U.S. that receive federal aid from using separate, private monies for abortion counseling, services, referrals, and lobbying activities targeting their own government. Under this policy, international family planning programs that provide a wide range of resources, including gynecological exams, AIDS prevention and treatment, and contraception, are forced to lose a large percentage of their operating costs, or to discontinue services formerly paid for by private dollars. With no other option, young women in developing nations will again turn to illegal abortions, too many of them dying as a result of serious infections.

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