The Global Gag Rule
$60,000,000 potential lost funding for IPPF
This year marks 40-years of the Mexico City Policy, also known as the GGR, a far-reaching, destructive American foreign policy. The GGR is imposed by executive order taken by Republican administrations since August 1984 under the Reagan administration, which obliges non-US based NGOs to stop abortion service delivery and advocacy using funds from any source as a condition for receiving US funds. IPPF does not accept these conditions.
Abortion service delivery and advocacy are core components of IPPF and our MAs’ mandates. We consider them to be non-negotiable aspects of our work. IPPF and its MAs stand firm and do not to comply with GGR conditions.
IPPF has seen first-hand how destructive GGR has been over four decades
- From 1984 to 2016 the policy was imposed during Republican administrations on all family planning assistance funds, making IPPF and its MAs unable to accept these funds during those periods.
- Research shows the GGR has led to contraceptive clinic and program closures, which negatively impact people’s ability to access timely and comprehensive contraceptive counselling and services. Under a previous iteration of the GGR from 2001–08, pregnancies increased by 12% and abortions by 40% in impacted countries.
- Research has shown GGR decreases access to abortion information and providers, decreases coverage of contraceptive care, silences SRHR advocates, reduces coverage of community health workers, imposes regressive policies, and infringes on other countries’ sovereignty,
In 2017 President Trump expanded GGR’s application to all global health assistance funding, including funding for HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, malaria, global health security, and family planning and reproductive health.
What is the Global Gag Rule?
The Global Gag Rule (GGR), or Mexico City Policy, denies US funding to organisations like IPPF if they use non-US funds to provide abortion services, counselling or referrals in accordance with national law. It blocks critical funding for services like contraception, maternal health, and HIV prevention and treatment. Evidence from previous policies shows that eliminating access to contraception leads to more forced pregnancy and unsafe abortions.
13 countries and 16 healthcare projects worldwide are affected by the Global Gag Rule
African countries affected
- Togo
- Mauritania
- Cote d’Ivoire
- Cameroon
- Malawi
- Ethiopia
- Burundi
- Burkina Faso
- Ghana
- Niger
- Uganda.
South East Asian countries affected
- Indonesia
- The Philippines
Our services affected
- In Malawi, the Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) is the main family planning and adolescent health technical partner for two major USAID integrated health projects. Their work has improved equity in access to contraceptive services by supporting provider training, improving data collection and supply management systems, and upgrading quality assurance protocol use. In Ethiopia, the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE) is the lead local FP partner on USAID’s youth, nutrition, and health communication projects.
- Abruptly cutting this work short will have tragic consequences for clinic, outreach, and community services and programs.
- IPPF is leading ExpandPF, a large multi-country USAID project in Francophone West Africa. It started last year and is planned to continue until 2028. It is expected to reach nearly 1.2 million contraceptive users and over 1.3 million contraceptive years of protection (CYP) if it receives its full funding and continues until its anticipated end date in 2028.
Why we will not sign the GGR
IPPF believes reproductive health is a right and everyone should be able to make choices about their well-being. Therefore IPPF will not support policies which actively restrict or violate an individual’s right to choose.
The Global Gag Rule not only undermines but violates these rights and therefore, IPPF cannot and will not support it.
when
Related Member Association
Family Planning Association of Malawi, Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia