The Trump administration’s decision to dramatically expand the Global Gag Rule will be implemented as previous iterations have been, through standard provision language that is attached to new grant or cooperative agreements. The language could be added to bilateral health agreements, impacting other nations for the first time. Entities that choose to comply will be blocked from providing information, referrals, or services for legal abortion or to advocate for access to abortion services in their own countries or for advancing DEI and LGBTQI+ rights. Organizations that refuse to comply with this policy will lose U.S. funding. The already devastating cuts to U.S. foreign assistance will be compounded by this policy, preventing health professionals from delivering essential health services, threatening individuals’ bodily autonomy, and harming women and girls around the world.
This policy will also have enormous impacts on U.S. diplomacy and soft power, with potential threats to other nations’ sovereignty, by leveraging U.S. funding to push other nations to implement anti-rights policies. This could affect a wide range of sectors, including global health, education, governance, agriculture, and nutrition, making those programs less effective.
