In 1984, Ronald Reagan, who was in the White House at the time, introduced the Global Gag Rule (Mexico City Policy), which cuts NGOs worldwide from federal funding if they provide, promote, or even discuss abortion services as a method of family planning. India, being one of the most populous developing countries, was hit hard.
The International Planned Parenthood Federation, of which the Family Planning Association of India is a part, reported losing $100 million in U.S. aid due to non-compliance with the GGR, directly affecting FPAI’s programs in India. Clinics offering abortion services faced closures, leading to reduced access to contraception and maternal healthcare in underserved areas. FPAI sought donations from private donors and IGOs, but they still had to downsize their operations.
Similarly, Janani, an Indian society established in 1995 with the objective of supporting the government in delivering family planning and safe abortion products and services in low-resource settings, operating in Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, lost access to U.S. funding streams. This forced the organization to cut down outreach programs, particularly in rural areas where contraceptive use was already low, leading to increased rates of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions in the states Janani served. Sangini is another such organization serving marginalized women in northern India. Losing U.S. funding meant Sangini had to halt its mobile health units, which served as a lifeline for women in remote villages.
With NGOs refraining from abortion-related advocacy to comply with the GGR, the discourse around abortion rights and reproductive autonomy was significantly weakened in India, worsening abortion stigma in the country.
On his first day in office in 2017, Trump reinstated and expanded the GGR to all global health assistance, not just family planning funds, restricting funds to organizations addressing HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and maternal health. He later signed the Geneva Consensus Declaration alongside other conservative countries to affirm anti-abortion policies. Trump’s previous administration heavily promoted abstinence-based sex education and family planning as alternatives to contraception and abortion services.
Now that Trump is back in power, the Global Gag Rule is going to affect the world worse than ever, exacerbating challenges in reproductive healthcare, maternal health, and HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. The expanded version of the policy, which during his previous term applied to all global health assistance, could return with even stricter conditions, leaving millions without access to critical services. Vulnerable populations, particularly women in low- and middle-income countries, will bear the brunt of these changes, with increased rates of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and maternal mortality.
NGOs that rely on U.S. funding may face closure or be forced to eliminate essential programs, fragmenting already strained health networks and creating a domino effect of negative outcomes in sectors like child health, disease prevention, and gender equality. The reimposition of this policy threatens to roll back decades of progress in global health, placing ideological priorities over the urgent needs of millions worldwide.
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