The Gag Rule prohibited organizations in receipt of US funds from using their own money to provide abortion information, services and care, or even discussing abortion or criticizing unsafe abortion.
We are delighted that President Obama has rescinded it.
It even prevented organizations from working on these issues at the request of their own governments.
The Gag Rule severely restricted freedom of speech; it interfered with the doctor-client relationship; and hindered balanced consideration of liberalizing abortion laws based on public health concerns and human rights.
Around the world this has had a dramatic impact on the ability of our Member Associations, and many other organizations which have rejected the Gag Rule, and consequently lost much of their funding, to provide full sexual and reproductive health services.
First introduced in 1984 and reintroduced by President George W. Bush in 2001, the Global Gag Rule (also known as the Mexico City Policy) puts non-governmental organizations from outside the United States in an untenable position, forcing them to choose between carrying out their work safeguarding the health and rights of women or losing their funding from the US.
The policy has restricted the freedom of speech and association of those organizations who are bound by its regulations. However, anti-abortion advocacy is allowed, underscoring the ideological nature of the Gag Rule.
The Gag Rule failed in its stated intent to reduce the global incidence of abortion.
Rather, by dramatically impairing the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services, its actual impact has been to increase the number of unintended pregnancies and the abortions that inevitably follow.
Our Member Associations, working around the world, must deal with the consequences of unsafe abortion every day.
In 2006 alone an estimated 19 million women had an unsafe abortion, nearly 70,000 of them will pay for it with their lives.
Millions more will suffer injuries, illness or disability resulting from unsafe abortion.
The public health and human rights impact of unsafe abortion have been ignored by the international community for too long.
The Millennium Development Goals have renewed the focus on global development issues.