PAI Statement on Imposition of Domestic Gag Rule

Statement from Jonathan Rucks, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy

Today, the Trump-Pence administration imposed restrictions on Title X funding akin to a domestic version of the Global Gag Rule. This counterproductive and cruel attack on women’s reproductive rights will have a devastating impact on access to reproductive health care and other essential health services across the country.

The domestic gag rule interferes with doctor-patient relationships, forces providers to violate medical ethics and denies low-income Title X patients information about the full range of health care options available to them. It will cut out many of the most effective and trusted reproductive health care providers and exacerbate health care disparities. Just like the Global Gag Rule, the most marginalized and vulnerable women and communities will suffer the consequences.

Gag rules that halt access to information and counseling from trusted reproductive health care providers do not reduce abortions. Evidence shows that when the Global Gag Rule has been in place, entire communities are cut off from accessing contraceptives, resulting in more unplanned pregnancies and women dying from pregnancy-related complications and unsafe abortions.

For decades, PAI’s documentation of the Global Gag Rule has shown reductions in programs and services, clinics closures, loss of access to U.S.-donated contraceptives and heavy administrative burdens for providers who choose to comply. The domestic gag rule takes many of the most dangerous aspects of this policy and brings it home to the United States, where we are likely to see many of the same negative effects.

More information on the Global Gag Rule:

Reporting on the Global Gag Rule

The Global Gag Rule: What’s the Point (Video)

So Far, So Bad: The Wide-Ranging Impacts of the Global Gag Rule Happening Now

American Attitudes on the Global Gag Rule

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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington and our network of partners in developing countries to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 50 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai2020s.wpengine.com.