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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

COLUMN: 'Global gag rule' will harm developing world

I agree with an episode of “West Wing” where first lady Abigail Barlett went off on the Mexico City Policy, also known as the “global gag rule,” an executive order that denies federal funding for any Non-Government Organization that provides abortions in overseas aid, for what it is — an underhanded way to stop abortion from occurring without understanding the horrifying side effects of cutting off aid.

The “global gag rule” is a travesty for many reasons, but for now, I’ll focus on just two: its effect on health care and its effect on women.

It disgusts me. Unintended pregnancies are a problem in the developing world. Additionally, there are many places in the developing world where there are not many available sources of medical care. In the past, by threatening to cut funding of these clinics, the “global gag rule” has affected the fight against AIDS, increased abortion rates in developing nations, and closed health clinics and thus restricted access to healthcare.

One of the largest arguments against funding Planned Parenthood is there are other clinics and health centers for the women it serves to go to. We can’t use this logic in the developing world because there aren’t many family planning services in rural Kenya.

Elizabeth Akoth, a family service provider in Kenya, said this rule makes it difficult to prevent teen pregnancy with the global gag rule. With this executive order, 30 countries — the majority of them poor or rural — will lose funding for reproductive health services. Additionally, condoms are often difficult to find in these communities, and birth control is prohibitively expensive. The “global gag rule” will see thousands more cases of cases teen pregnancy and mortality during childbirth.

This happened in Ghana after then-President George W. Bush re-enacted the policy in 2001 and shut down many reproductive health care facilities in the nation and prevented the distribution of condoms, birth control and HIV testing in Kenya.

If its effect on health care is not enough, the “global gag rule” does nothing to decrease the rate of abortions but instead increased the number of deaths that occurred with unsafe abortion policies.

The World Health Organization reports 17 million pregnant girls under the age of 19 in low- and mid-income countries each year. This is the second leading cause of death in this 
population.

Teen pregnancy occurs, and because of the stigma associated with it, many women attempt self-induced abortions. The Leitner Center for International Law and Justice found that the rule increased the rates of unsafe abortions in Uganda.

The “global gag rule” has increased the rate of abortions in these nations and shut down vital health services. It is an order that is designed not to help people but to push a social agenda that limits women’s choices and endangers their lives, but, hey, at least it’s still a pro-life policy.

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