Despite opposing views from millions of women in the US, Donald Trump has finally signed the executive order to ban abortion. This order, if passed, might have far-reaching effects on maternal reproductive health all around the world.
Along with the proposal of a new order, Trump reiterated Ronald Reagan’s Mexican City policy or global gag rule. The rule supposedly prohibited all the US funding to organizations which provide family planning advices that include abortion. Obviously, this policy would be a violation of reproductive rights for American women. Moreover, this too would affect women all around the world, especially in developing countries.
Annual US foreign spending of around 600 million dollars on reproductive health means that the sum provides services to 27 million women. Hence, as straightforward as it is, the cut off on that amount would deprive most of those 27 million women. And, as evident on WHO’s statistics, 21 million plus women go through unsafe abortions every year in developing countries. So, just imagine an addition of 27 million to 21 million!
On the other hand, as the policy has been introduced earlier, there is a precedent that the situation will not become as worse as foreseen. The Democrat governments tend to favor abortion rights, while the Republican governments don’t. Reagan installed anti-abortion policy, Clinton uninstalled it. Then, Bush put it in again, but Obama turned his back to anti-abortion. Now, it’s Trump – a Republican.
Sean Spicer said, “The President, it’s no secret, has made it very clear that he’s a pro-life president. He wants to stand up for all Americans, including the unborn, and I think the reinstatement of this policy is not just something that echoes that value but respects taxpayer funding as well.”
The president of anti-abortion advocacy group responded, Marjorie Dannenfelser, “President Trump is continuing Ronald Reagan’s legacy by taking immediate action on day one to stop the promotion of abortion through our tax dollars overseas.”
In contradictory, there are millions who want to preserve women’s abortion rights. Perhaps, that’s what made many votes for 2016 election race counterpart Hillary Clinton.
