US Senate Rejects Surprise Move to Restore Global Gag Rule

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2009 – The Senate today overwhelmingly rejected a surprise Republican proposal to reinstate and even expand the reach of the so-called Global Gag Rule, which for eight years barred U.S. funding for overseas groups counseling on legal abortion rights or advocating abortion law reform.

The 60 to 37 vote, largely along party lines, came on an amendment offered unexpectedly by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) during debate on proposed reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Cosponsored by ten other Republican senators, the amendment would have nullified President Barack Obama’s Jan. 23 action overturning the gag rule, and would also have extended the rule’s reach to U.S.-based organizations and multilateral agencies.

“The margin demonstrates that family planning and reproductive health advocates may now have a cloture-proof majority in the Senate on the substance of most of our policy issues,” said Craig Lasher, senior policy analyst at Population Action International.

The global gag rule, also known as the Mexico City policy for the 1984 conference where it was first announced, has long been a priority target for family planning and reproductive health care advocates. It was rescinded by President Clinton on taking office in 1993 and restored by President George W. Bush as one of his first presidential acts in 2001.

The rule forced many family planning clinics and agencies to curtail operations or close their doors in developing countries worldwide, and advocates hailed President Obama’s reversal of it as an indicator of renewed U.S. leadership in international family planning.

Click here to read Senator Patrick Leahy's statement on the Martinez Amendment on the Mexico City Policy.

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