For Immediate Release:	September 24, 2003
For More Information:	Kimberley Cline, Population Action International (PAI), kcline@popact.org, 202.557.3423
Sponsor Organization:	Population Action International
Study is the First Conducted on the Effects of the Policy in Africa and Eastern Europe
The lives of countless thousands of the world's poorest women, men and young people are being placed at risk by draconian changes in US overseas funding policies for family planning, according to a new report launched in London today (24 September, 2003). Access Denied: U.S. Restrictions on International Family Planning, takes an in-depth look at the impact of the US administration's Mexico City Policy, or the Global Gag Rule as it is informally known. The Global Gag Rule is a presidential directive which prohibits US family planning assistance for foreign nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) that use funding from any source to perform abortions, to provide counseling and referral for abortion, or to lobby to make abortion legal or more available in their own country. "The Global Gag Rule is yet another example of how the Bush Administration is allowing political ideology to trump science," says Amy Coen, President of Population Action International, the study's lead sponsor. "The policy shows no respect for scientific evidence and proven public health practices, and no compassion for the millions of women around the world engaged in a daily struggle for existence." Under this policy, foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are forced to choose between desperately needed family planning funds and the ability to provide medically ethical information or participate in public debates over their countries' abortion policies. Conducted by a coalition of reproductive health care organizations, the study documents the effects of the Global Gag Rule in Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, and Romania. Health services have been scaled back and closings of reproductive health clinics have left some communities with no health care provider. Furthermore, the study finds that the policy not only affects family planning services, but also impedes HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. For example, in Kenya, Marie Stopes International was forced to close a reproductive health clinic in the province with the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the country. When Dr. Steven Sinding, Director-General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, lived and worked in Kenya in the 1980s, the eight-child family was rapidly dropping toward four. "People were beginning to realise that they could make reproductive choices," says Dr. Sinding. He continues, "twenty years later couples still want the ability to control their own fertility but the Global Gag Rule is now preventing this desire from becoming a reality." Three clinics of the Family Planning Association of Kenya have been forced to close, one in a slum area of Nairobi with no other health services available. The report documents the effects of the Global Gag Rule in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia, where health services have been scaled back and closings of reproductive health clinics have left some communities without any health care provider. Because of the Gag Rule, many family planning organizations are cut off from supplies of USAID contraceptives, including condoms. Health experts know that lack of contraception leads to an increase in unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortion, which will in turn inevitably lead to more maternal deaths. "At a time when more than 500,000 women die worldwide from pregnancy-related causes each year and over a million women die from AIDS, the Global Gag Rule is only making matters worse," says Ipas President Elizabeth Maguire. "The fact is family planning and reproductive choices are vital to saving lives and improving the health of women and communities." US President George Bush has further compounded the problem with his recent announcement extending the Global Gag Rule to include State Department family planning funds, a move that will now affect certain vulnerable groups previously exempt from the policy. "This invidious series of attacks on reproductive rights and services, which has become a signature of the Bush administration, is thoroughly destructive of the wellbeing and lives of women and their families in the developing world," said Patricia Hindmarsh, Marie Stopes International's Director of External Relations. "The latest targets of this callous and politically self serving ideology are refugees, possibly the most marginalized, neglected and vulnerable communities on the planet." Note to Reporters, Editors, and Producers: The complete report, "Access Denied: U.S. Restrictions on International Family Planning," is available online at http://www.globalgagrule.org. Video footage from Zambia is also available.