Pelosi Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order Reinstating Global Gag Rule

Contact: Drew Hammill/Caroline Behringer, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today after President Trump issued an executive order reinstating the global gag rule, also known as the Mexico City Policy, that restricts U.S. funding to organizations that provide basic health care and family planning services to the poorest families in the world:

"Reinstating the global gag rule returns us to disgraceful era that dishonored the American values of free speech and inflicted untold suffering on millions of women around the world. Two days after millions of people poured into the streets across America and throughout the world in support of women's rights, the Trump Administration has silenced even the discussion of women's reproductive choices.

"Now, foreign non-governmental organizations will be forced to give women incomplete medical information, advice and care in order to participate in U.S.-supported programs abroad. When last in place, the global gag rule had the effect of decreasing access to family planning services around the world. Study after study shows that when women have increased access to family planning services and supplies, such as contraceptives, the incidence of abortion decreases.

"No U.S. funds can be or have been used to perform or promote abortion services overseas since 1973. The fact is that President Trump's shameful decision to reinstate the global gag rule will cause more unintended pregnancies, more maternal complications and injuries, less information about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and more – not fewer – abortions."

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