Claim: U.S. 'gag rule' linked to 40% jump in abortions in parts of Africa.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Sex education
text: Africa has focused on stemming the growing AIDS epidemic. Most governments in the region have established AIDS education programs in partnership with the World Health Organization and international NGOs. These programs were undercut significantly by the Global Gag Rule, an initiative put in place by President Ronald Reagan, suspended by President Bill Clinton, and re-instated by President George W. Bush. The Global Gag Rule "...required nongovernmental organizations to agree as a condition of their receipt of Federal funds that such organizations would neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations..." The Global Gag

title: Abortion debate
text: as does the right to life; thus, abortion is considered immoral. The Church of England also considers abortion to be morally wrong, though their position admits abortion when "the continuance of a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother". The Mexico City policy—also known as the "global gag rule"—required any non-governmental organization receiving U.S. government funding to refrain from performing or promoting abortion services in other countries. This had a significant effect on the health policies of many nations across the globe. The Mexico City policy was instituted under President Reagan, suspended under President Clinton, reinstated by President George W.

title: Gag rule
text: John C. Calhoun of South Carolina attempted to introduce a gag rule. The Senate rejected this proposal, but agreed on a method which, while technically not violating the right to petition, would achieve the same effect. If an anti-slavery petition was presented, the Senate would vote not on whether to accept the petition but on whether to consider the question of receiving the petition. Related to abortion rights, the so-called Mexico City policy, which prohibits U.S. funding for organizations that provide abortions, referrals to abortion providers, and in some cases any family planning (birth control) information, is sometimes referred to

title: Reproductive rights in Latin America
text: in Latin America. When U.S. President Donald Trump reinstated the Global Gag Rule on January 23, 2017, he prohibited all U.S. federal money from funding international organizations such as NGOs that "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning". Due to the fact that abortion regulations are already extremely strict in Latin America, this legislation disproportionately affects Latin American organizations that try to provide abortion services to women either legally, or illegally. In 2012 a report presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) found that access to information remains a significant roadblock to sexual and

title: Mexico City policy
text: plan for the upcoming G8 summit which did not include financial support for abortion or contraception, drawing comparisons to the Mexico City policy. An episode of the television series "Boston Legal", "Squid Pro Quo", which originally aired on May 9, 2006, featured a case involving USAID's withdrawal of funding to an overseas non-profit organization. An episode of the American television series "The West Wing", entitled "Privateers", featured a "gag rule" amendment of a law for overseas aid. Mexico City policy The Mexico City policy, sometimes referred to by critics as the global gag rule, is a United States government policy

title: Social policy of Donald Trump
text: He said that if "Roe v. Wade" were overturned, the issue would be returned to the states, and that if some states outlawed abortion, a woman would "have to go to another state" to obtain an abortion. In January 24, days after being sworn in, Trump issued an executive order reinstating the Mexico City policy (also called the "global gag rule"). Under the policy, international non-governmental organizations that "offer or promote abortions as part of their family planning services" are barred from receiving funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). On March 27, Trump revoked the 2014 Fair

title: Helms Amendment
text: performed in unsafe ways by people without proper qualifications and in places that are not fit to medical standards. The Global gag rule, also known as the "Mexico City policy", is in accordance with the Helms Amendment of 1973. The order bans foreign aid from the United States to be directed to any non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide any services relating to abortions. In 1984 the Global Gag Order was first placed by former President Reagan and remained active through former President Bush. In 1993 when former President Clinton took office the order was rescinded until 2001. Former President George

title: Sex education
text: Rule was again suspended as one of the first official acts by United States President Barack Obama. The incidences of new HIV transmissions in Uganda decreased dramatically when Clinton supported a comprehensive sex education approach (including information about contraception and abortion). According to Ugandan AIDS activists, the Global Gag Rule undermined community efforts to reduce HIV prevalence and HIV transmission. Egypt teaches knowledge about male and female reproductive systems, sexual organs, contraception and STDs in public schools at the second and third years of the middle-preparatory phase (when students are aged 12–14). A coordinated program between UNDP, UNICEF, and the

title: Mexico City policy
text: Mexico City policy The Mexico City policy, sometimes referred to by critics as the global gag rule, is a United States government policy that blocks U.S. federal funding for non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counselling or referrals, advocate to decriminalize abortion or expand abortion services. The Mexico City Policy is a U.S. government policy that – when in effect – has required foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to certify that they will not "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning" with non-U.S. funds as a condition for receiving U.S. global family planning assistance and, as of January

title: Mexico City policy
text: their access to USAID-supplied condoms and other forms of contraception. This, they argue, negatively impacts the ability of these NGOs to distribute birth control, leading to a downturn in contraceptive use and from there to an increase in the rates of unintended pregnancies and abortion. A study of nations in sub-Saharan Africa suggests that unintended pregnancies increased and abortions approximately doubled while the policy was in effect. Critics also argue that the ban promotes restrictions on free speech as well as restrictions on accurate medical information. The European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development presented a petition to the United

title: Abortion in South Africa
text: a legal requirement that abortion centres provide it. There has since the legalisation of abortion on demand been a decrease in deaths from backstreet abortions, but the number of deaths following abortions are still quite high according to statistics gathered in Gauteng province—5% of maternal deaths following childbirth are abortion related, and 57% of these are related to illegal abortions. A recent study in Soweto showed the following: the rate of abortions for women older than 20 years decreased from 15,2% in 1999 to 13,2% in 2001, the rate for women aged 16–20 decreased from 21% to 14,9%, and the

title: Mexico City policy
text: Mexico City policy under the George W. Bush administration, but has not been excluded since the Mexico City policy was reinstated on Jan 23, 2017. In May 2017, Rex Tillerson announced an expansion of the policy: The policy originally enacted from 1984 to 1993 spoke to abortion only, not family planning in general. However, in 2001, the policy was re-implemented and expanded to cover all voluntary family planning activities, and critics began to refer to it as the "global gag rule." These critics argue that the policy not only reduces the overall funding provided to particular NGOs, it closes off

title: Reproductive rights
text: HIV/AIDS, with approximately 25 million people living with HIV in 2015. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for two-thirds of the global total of new HIV infections. Attempted abortions and unsafe abortions are a risk for youth in Africa. On average, there are 2.4 million unsafe abortions in East Africa, 1.8 million in Western Africa, over 900,000 in Middle Africa, and over 100,000 in Southern Africa each year. In Uganda, abortion is illegal except to save the mother's life. However, 78% of teenagers report knowing someone who has had an abortion and the police do not always prosecute everyone who has an abortion.

title: Abortion-rights movements
text: South Africa allows abortion on demand under its Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act. Most African nations, however, have abortion bans except in cases where the woman's life or health is at risk. A number of abortion-rights international organizations have made altering abortion laws and expanding family planning services in sub-Saharan Africa and the developing world a top priority. Because Argentina is very restrictive against abortion, reliable reporting on abortion rates is unavailable. Argentina is a strongly Catholic country, and protesters seeking liberalized abortion in 2013 directed anger toward the Catholic Church. Argentina is the home of the anti-violence organization

title: Abortion
text: Inconsistent use was reported by half of those using condoms and three-quarters of those using the birth control pill; 42% of those using condoms reported failure through slipping or breakage. The Guttmacher Institute estimated that "most abortions in the United States are obtained by minority women" because minority women "have much higher rates of unintended pregnancy". An additional factor is risk to maternal or fetal health, which was cited as the primary reason for abortion in over a third of cases in some countries and as a significant factor in only a single-digit percentage of abortions in other countries. In

title: Developing country
text: 98 per cent of women affected), Guinea (96 per cent), Djibouti (93 per cent), Egypt (91 per cent), Eritrea (89 per cent), Mali (89 per cent), Sierra Leone (88 per cent), Sudan (88 per cent), Gambia (76 per cent), Burkina Faso (76 per cent), and Ethiopia (74 per cent). Due to globalization and immigration, FGM is spreading beyond the borders of Africa and Middle East, to countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, New Zealand, the U.S., and UK. The Istanbul Convention prohibits female genital mutilation (Article 38). As of 2016, FGM has been legally banned in many African countries.

title: Women in South Africa
text: Types of contraceptives used by South African women are racially stratified with South African women of color predominantly utilizing contraceptive injections. South Africa is also one of the few countries in Africa to have a liberal abortion law: under the "Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996", abortion is allowed on request during the first trimester of pregnancy, and in special circumstances at later stages. However, this does not mean that it is easy to get an abortion in South Africa, as not all health care facilities are equally nor adequately equipped to meet the demands for abortion services. As

title: Birth control in Africa
text: 2006-07, has one of the highest rates in Africa, while Senegal with a rate of 8.7% in 2005 has one of the lowest. In Sub-Saharan Africa, extreme poverty, lack of access to birth control, and restrictive abortion laws cause about 3% of women to have unsafe abortions. South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe have successful family planning programs, but other central and southern African countries continue to encounter difficulties in achieving higher contraceptive prevalence and lower fertility rates. Contraceptive use among women in Sub-Saharan Africa has risen from about 5% in 1991 to about 30% in 2006. Socioeconomic class constitutes an

title: Reproductive rights in Latin America
text: its own country, which has resulted in the United States banning federal funding for international NGOs. Considerably damaging to groups in Latin America was Ronald Reagan's 1984 Global Gag Rule which prohibited international organizations receiving US federal funds from performing or promoting abortion as a method of family planning. Latin America is home to some of the few countries of the world with a complete ban on abortion, without an exception for saving maternal life. During the Cold War, reproductive restrictions were directed at controlling overpopulation through technocratic regulatory mechanisms and vertical population control campaigns. The United Nations International Conference

title: Abortion and Christianity
text: abortions initiated by 5% of women in their childbearing years, whereas 3% of such women have abortions in the U.S. Catholics for Choice reports that Italy—97% Catholic—is 74% in favor of using Mifepristone, an abortifacient. A majority of Catholics in Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico say that abortion should be allowed in at least some circumstances. In Nigeria, a 1999 study of 1,516 women having abortions determined that 69% were Protestant, 25% were Muslim, and the remainder were Catholic and other religions. Scholars generally agree that abortion was performed in the classical world, but there is disagreement about the frequency with