Obama's Reversal Of Global Gag Rule Is 'Welcome Step', Editorial Says

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Abortion
Article Date: 05 Feb 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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President Obama's repeal of the "global gag rule" -- also known as the "Mexico City" policy -- was a "welcome step toward improving the lives of women across the globe," a Providence Journal editorial states. The policy banned federal funding to international family planning groups that offered abortion services or information with their own funds. "It is unfortunate that efforts to help impoverished women overseas have become so polarizing here at home," the editorial says. It continues that Obama has called for "a new dialogue and new attempts to reach common ground on the abortion issue," adding that "[f]inding ways to reduce the number of abortions has always represented this elusive middle" on the issue. "Ironically, the international aid groups so reviled by abortion foes largely embrace this objective" and are "able to help reduce unplanned pregnancies in developing nations" by providing contraception, the editorial continues. "In turn, fewer desperate women resort to abortions that are frequently unsafe," according to the editorial.

The editorial states that the gag rule "has limited the work of some of the most effective organizations" over the past eight years. It notes that many groups "opted out" of receiving funding, which "meant that they could not receive funding for anything, including contraception, HIV prevention and maternal health care," despite being "the only ones with a presence in the most hard-to-reach areas."

Obama "correctly noted that more than abortion was at stake" by reversing the global gag rule, the editorial says, adding that Obama "linked empowering women, and protecting their health, to promoting global economic development." The editorial concludes that the "connection is basic: Women who have control over their reproductive lives are better able to pursue an education, become productive and devote resources to their families." The global gag rule "may have made some Americans feel good, but it deprived millions in impoverished nations of a fair chance" (Providence Journal, 2/3).

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