Buh-bye Global Gag Rule!

Ann mentioned in the Weekly Feminist Reader that President Elect Barack Obama’s transition team has compiled a list of Bush administration actions that can be undone quickly – and that the Global Gag Rule is one of them.

…The new president is also expected to lift a so-called global gag rule barring international family planning groups that receive U.S. aid from counseling women about the availability of abortion, even in countries where the procedure is legal, said Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

I just wanted to give this news item its own post, because – woo hoo! The Global Gag Rule, which was reinstated by President Bush on his first day in office, prohibits any international organization that receives U.S. funds from counseling women on abortion as an option, providing referrals, or discussing the dangers of unsafe abortions – even if the organization uses its own money to do so. The impact of the mandate has been deadly for women worldwide. About 70,000 women die every year from unsafe or illegal abortions – a number that could be significantly lowered by access to information and sexual health care.
So the importance of Obama potentially overturning the Global Gag Rule can’t be overstated – women’s lives are depending on it.