Consequences of The Global Gag Order: Taking Away a Girl’s Education
During Donald Trump’s first week in office, he signed an executive order, which reinstated the global gag rule. This executive order keeps any foreign organizations that use US funding from being able to use their non-US government funds to provide any information about, or services for legal abortion. The global gag rule also prevents these same organizations from advocating for the legalization of safe abortion. Since the Reagan presidency, the global gag order, also known as the Mexico City policy, has been reinstated during every republican led administration.
Republican’s continuous fight against women’s reproductive rights by using the gag rule has made restrictions harsher than ever before. Not only are organizations prevented from using funds for abortions (which they weren’t doing in the first place), now they are unable to inform patients that abortion is an option (this includes during situations that are life threatening to the mother). This executive order affects any healthcare provider receiving American aid, domestic and abroad. Previously, when President Bush reinstated the order, it applied to 575 million dollars in aid. The mandates now apply to 9.5 billion dollars in financial aid for medical services the US allocates to other countries. (Frist, 2017)
This global gag rule has negative unintended consequences, many of which are felt most by vulnerable women and girls in developing nations. One of the most damaging consequences of this ban is that it will prevent many girls from obtaining an education.
Girls are at a disadvantage to boys when it comes to obtaining even a primary school education. The gender parity index(GPI)- which is a tool used in order to measure the regional ratio of girls to boys- is not equal in many countries. In education the gender parity gap has lessened in many sub-Saharan African countries at the primary school level over the past few decades. Unfortunately though, when it comes to secondary school education, it is common for sub-Saharan African countries to have moved away from achieving gender parity. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Foundation Education for Global Monitoring Report, there has been a decline in the GPI for regional secondary schools. The GPI in sub-Saharan African countries dropped from a score of 0.82 in 1999 to 0.79 in 2008. This is partially caused by early pregnancy and childhood marriage around the age that students attend secondary school. (EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2011)
When restricted from having access to family planning information and services, girls can be at risk of early pregnancy. If a girl becomes pregnant due to lack of access to contraception, frequently provided by US funded clinics, they will likely have to drop out of school. They are also at risk of pregnancy from rape, which is a common occurrence especially in developing countries. South Africa’s rape rate in 2010 was 132 per every 100,000 people. This is only taking into account reported rapes, while a large percentage of rapes are never reported. Rapes most often are committed people girls know, usually relatives, friends, acquaintances, or even teachers. (Nationmaster, N.D)
Early pregnancy is dangerous for young girls. A rise in pregnancy rates will occur due to restricted access to contraceptives, which will lead to a rise in unsafe abortion. According to the World Health Organization, the rates of unsafe abortion in countries where the Mexico City Policy didn’t affect aid funding remained close to the same between the years of 1994 through 2008. The rates rose significantly in countries where much of the aid funding was affected by the policy during that same time period. Mari Stopes International, a non-governmental organization providing contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries around the world, states that without funding many women will lose their access to these important reproductive health services. These women’s inability to access contraception and safe abortion will cause 6.5 million unintended pregnancies, and 2.1 million unsafe abortions between 2017 and 2020. (Grimes, N.D)
Increased pregnancies in women and girls will cause the maternal mortality rate- the percentage of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth- to rise. According to Mari Stopes International, 21,700 maternal deaths will occur during the first term of the Trump Administration alone because of this policy. Even if women who have unsafe abortions don’t die from the procedure, they are very likely to become injured from it. Removal of reproductive health services was linked to higher rates of women coming to hospitals for post-abortion services due to unsafe abortion in Ghana during the Bush administration. (WHO, 2011) Treating complications from unsafe abortions can also overwhelm the already underfunded health care systems in developing nations. These health care systems may be unable to care for patients suffering from complications from unsafe abortions due to low funding. (Crockett, 2017)
Every woman around the world should have access to the reproductive care and information they need to keep themselves safe and healthy. Donald Trump choosing to reinstate this policy in order to satisfy his pro-life supporters, many of which voted for him solely over this issue, will be at the expense of the women who will die because of unsafe abortion or maternal mortality around the world. Empowering girls is almost impossible if their lives are changed from early motherhood. The easiest way to empower a girl is to provide her with an equal education, which will make her much less likely to become pregnant and be forced into a childhood marriage. Trump has an opportunity to be considered a world leader and gain considerable respect in the fight for equal education for all. To do this he must empower women and girls, which cannot be done if we reinstate policies that will often keep them from the education they deserve.
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References:
Crockett, E. (2017, January 23). Trump reinstated the global gag rule. It won’t stop abortion, but it will make it less safe. Retrieved February 11, 2017, from http://www.vox.com/identities/2017/1/23/14356582/trump-global-gag-rule-abortion
Education for Global Monitoring Report. (2013, October ). Retrieved February 16, 2017, from United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Foundation, http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/gem-report/files/girls-factsheet-en.pdf
EFA Global Monitoring Report. (2011). The Hidden Crisis: Armed conflict and education. Retrieved February 16, 2017, from United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/publications-a-z/457-sexual-abuse-and-violence-in-sub-saharan-africa
Frist, B. (2017, February 9). Bill Frist: The case for keeping America’s AIDS relief plan. The Opinion Pages. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/09/opinion/bill-frist-the-case-for-keeping-americas-aids-relief-plan.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article&_r=0
Grimes, D.A., Benson, J., Singh, S., Romero, M., Ganatra, B., Okonofua, F.E. and Shah, I.H., 2006. Unsafe abortion: the preventable pandemic. The Lancet, 368(9550), pp.1908-1919.
NationMaster. Countries compared by crime > rape rate. International statistics at NationMaster.Com. Retrieved February 16, 2017, from Nation Master, http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Rape-rate
WHO. (2011, December 16). United States aid policy and induced abortion in sub-saharan Africa. Retrieved February 10, 2017, from World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/12/11-091660/en/
