May 7, 2001

 

TO:           Writers covering foreign aid, international family planning and population

 

FROM:     Sally Ethelston                          Steven Biel

      (202) 557-3418                           (202) 557-3423

      sae@popact.org                         sbiel@popact.org

 

RE:   House Committee Votes to Repeal Global Gag Rule; Full House Scheduled to Vote on Gag Rule This Week

                                                                                                                                               

 

On Wednesday, May 2, the Republican-controlled House International Relations Committee voted, 26-22, to repeal the global gag rule.  All 23 committee Democrats were joined by three Republicans, Reps. Ben Gilman (NY), Jim Leach (IA), and Amo Houghton (NY) to pass the amendment, introduced by Barbara Lee (D-CA).  The global gag rule, issued by President Bush on his first full day in office, bans healthcare providers who receive U.S. international family planning assistance from providing abortions with their own funds, counseling women on abortion, or engaging in political speech on abortion.  The issue now goes to the full House, where both sides expect an extremely close, unpredictable outcome.

 

With the House of Representatives poised to vote on the global gag rule, now is an ideal opportunity to editorialize in support of international family planning assistance.

 

Global Gag Rule Heads to the House of Representatives

 

The Lee Amendment was added to the State Department Authorization bill, which authorizes FY2002 and 2003 funding for that department.  The amendment prohibits agencies from refusing to fund organizations solely because they provide services that are legal in their countries and legal in the U.S.  Recipients of assistance would be allowed to provide abortion because abortion is legal in the U.S., as long abortion is legal in their country. The amendment also blocks the President from imposing on foreign organizations free speech restrictions that would be unconstitutional if imposed on Americans.  Because political speech about abortion is protected under the First Amendment, recipients of U.S. assistance would be allowed to exercise free speech on the issue of abortion as well.  If the Lee Amendment was passed into law, the President would be forced to rescind the global gag rule because it violates the amendment’s provisions.

 

The issue now heads to the full House of Representatives.  Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Congress’s leading supporter of the global gag rule, is expected to introduce an amendment to strike the Lee Amendment from the State Department Authorization bill.  Should the House defeat Rep. Smith’s “motion to strike,” the bill would then go to the Senate.  A clear majority in the Senate opposes the gag rule.  Ultimately, President Bush may be forced to choose whether to veto the whole bill, which includes several high-priority items for the White House and Secretary of State Colin Powell, or to agree to repeal the global gag rule.

Gag Rule Repudiated by the U.S. Public, Bush Cabinet, and Officials Worldwide

 

Since President Bush’s gag order was announced, the response, both overseas and in the U.S., has been scathing. The President’s own Secretary of State Colin Powell voiced personal opposition to the policy, saying, “It is the policy. I have other views that are my personal views” (This Week, 2/4/01). EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman used even stronger language on CNN’s Crossfire, saying ,"I was sorry he did that, and I obviously don't agree with that" (2/26).

 

A Newsweek poll showed that a majority of the American people disapprove of the gag rule (Newsweek.com, 2/10/01). The Global Democracy Promotion Act, a bill to repeal the global gag rule, has been sponsored by 124 members of the House, including seven Republicans, and 25 cosponsors in the Senate, including five Republicans.  More than 70 newspapers have editorialized against the gag rule, with bitter headlines reading: “Bush’s quick betrayal” (Louisville Courier Journal, 1/23/01); “Punishing poor women” (Arizona Daily Star, 1/25/01); and “The poor take a hit” (Des Moines Register, 1/25/01).

 

The response overseas has been even more unforgiving.  The gag rule has been cited as one of several unilateral actions on the part of the Bush Administration that prompted our allies to vote the U.S. off the U.N. Human Rights Commission.  The European Union blasted the gag rule as a “decency gap,” and Dutch Foreign Aid Minster Evelyn Herfkins said she was “absolutely appalled” (Reuters, 1/29).

 

Why the Global Gag Rule Costs Lives, Fails to Reduce Abortion Rates

 

The global gag rule will force family planning providers to withhold from women information about their full range of safe and legal options, including abortion. Worldwide, an estimated 20 million unsafe abortions occur annually, resulting in more than 70,000 deaths. By forcing doctors to withhold information about safe, legal abortion, the global gag rule may well contribute to even higher rates of death from abortion and mandates a severe breach of basic medical ethics.

 

The global gag rule also interferes with efforts to increase access to contraception and other important reproductive health services.  Ipas and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, two of the largest and most effective family planning organizations in the world, have lost millions in U.S. funding as a result of the global gag rule, forcing them to curtail family planning services in Africa, Asia, and South America.  President Bush’s attack on family planning will harm women’s health, contribute to high rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion, and undermine the global fight against AIDS. Also, by cutting off family planning assistance where abortions are provided, the gag rule squanders a vital opportunity to reach underserved women and prevent repeat abortions.

 

The gag rule’s ban on political speech on abortion silences important voices in the developing world. Given the high rates of maternal death from unsafe abortion, the President’s free speech ban is a tragic obstruction to progress in women’s health. Finally, the global gag rule creates a “chilling effect” that has led family planning providers in the past to distance themselves from anything to do with abortion, even refusing to treat women suffering from complications due to unsafe abortion.

 

For more information—For additional documentation or to speak with a PAI expert, please contact Steven Biel or Sally Ethelston at the numbers or email addresses provided.