Trump’s Global Gag Rule and Ethiopia

Ethiopia hosts the largest refugee population in Africa, taking in more than 783,000 people fleeing crises in South Sudan, Somalia and other neighboring states. Roughly half of this population is female, including significant numbers of women and girls of reproductive age. Many of these women and girls, especially those living outside of traditional camp settings, utilize the same, overburdened health services as the local population.

Despite these challenges, the country has made significant gains over the past six years in increasing contraceptive use and knowledge and reducing the number of maternal deaths. The Global Gag Rule threatens to dismantle this progress and exacerbate the challenges Ethiopia faces.