No One Wants To Have an Abortion
By: Stevin Azo Michels
Tags: Joe Biden, Abortion, Health Care Policy, Usaid, Global Gag Rule

Joe Biden, a Democrat, is poised to become President of the United States, and with that transition will come a likely reversal of the Global Gag Rule (GGR). The current iteration of the GGR is a Republican-led mandate requiring Non-Governmental Organizations to NOT discuss, promote, or offer abortion as an option in health care programs in order to receive $8.8 billion in funds from the US government.

The catalyst for its implementation centers around the anti-abortion stance of the “Right To Life” movement.

The Global Gag Rule does not decrease the number of abortions. Full stop.

Voice of America reports that in the period between 1990 and 2014, which saw several applications of the GGR, abortion rates in developing countries that receive US funding remained constant. Meanwhile, abortion rates in developed countries during that same period decreased. The latter statistic is attributed to better access to family planning and health care. When the GGR restrictions are in place, the ability to offer these services to the regions most in need is decreased or eliminated completely. The result is that it actually increases the number of unsafe abortions and maternal deaths, and that it does grave harm to women, children, families, and communities as a whole.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates that 225 million women worldwide would prefer to prevent or delay pregnancy, but do not have the services or tools to do so, resulting in unwanted pregnancies. Complications from these pregnancies are the second leading cause of death for adolescents ages 15 to 19 globally, over 22,000 deaths every year. Marie Stopes International (MSI) reports that, under the GGR, 1.7 million women around the world go without access to health services. This produces 2.1 million unintended pregnancies, 720,000 unsafe abortions, and 5,600 avoidable maternal deaths. HRW adds that these cases often occur in areas where rates of maternal mortality are already high.

Conversely, the Guttmacher Institute estimates that, by providing family planning and contraceptive services, 2 million unsafe abortions were avoided in 2016, the last year without the rule being in place. If the Pro-Life goal is to prevent abortions, isn’t it better then to provide positive family planning services without the overarching constraints that impede the intended objective?

But the GGR negatively transforms more than just women’s lives; it impacts families, villages, and whole regions. The International Planned Parenthood Federation reports that 32 countries and 53 healthcare projects worldwide are affected by the Global Gag Rule. MSI reports that in Madagascar the GGR cuts funding delivering 170,000 services to women and girls living in poverty. In Zimbabwe, a land-locked country roughly the size of California, the number of outreach centers was cut in half from 1,200 to only 600.

An Engender Health report further elaborates on how the GGR alters healthcare in over 20 developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. It shows that the program reduces and disrupts health programs, HIV testing and referrals, and gender-based violence programs. It diminishes the ability to treat malaria, tuberculosis, zika virus, and cervical, breast and prostate cancer. It also influences nutrition, water sanitation, and community hygiene, targeting the already most vulnerable and marginalized populations on the planet. These problems are even more tragically exacerbated in countries with war or migration issues like Syria and Burkina Faso.

It may be difficult to convince a Right To Lifer that outlawing abortion does more harm than good. But when one considers the evidence presented here, it is clear that the GGR is the wrong choice. Instead, the goal of reducing abortion is best served by providing better education and comprehensive health services. We can empower women with the tools to reduce consideration of abortion as an option, to have healthy children because they want to, and to practice positive healthcare habits that will strengthen their families and communities.

President Biden can reverse the ill effects of the GGR and reduce abortion in the developing world by providing the following enhanced funding guidelines.

The incoming administration must lift the GGR restrictions and establish new funding priorities in the following areas. Provide holistic family planning that includes readiness counseling, formal pre-parenting training, and family health programs, including those on pre- and post-natal care. Encourage pre-pregnancy programming including sex education and prophylactics. Develop pregnancy education, which includes all options: birth, adoption, and abortion. Prioritize holistic family health care and implement education programs on its societal importance. Fund research around the causes of maternal death, looking for potential solutions including the use of feedback loops for immediate implementation of the findings.

The Global Gag rule, as I have shown, has detrimental effects on the health of the whole family and does not achieve its desired effect of reducing abortion. Educating and providing better health care, including both the provision of prophylactics and positive encouragement, gives women the power to make informed choices and enhances societal health. This, and this alone, reduces abortions.

No woman wants to have an abortion. They simply need the dignity, education, and tools to make that a reality.