Kemp-Kasten Amendment and the Global Gag Rule

Confusion has been created by the Trump-Pence administration’s inclusion of a paragraph directing the Secretary of State to implement the so-called Kemp-Kasten amendment on coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization in its January 23rd presidential memorandum, otherwise devoted to its dramatic expansion of the Global Gag Rule to all U.S. government global health assistance.

The Kemp-Kasten amendment and the Global Gag Rule have often been conflated over the years. Both restrict U.S. foreign assistance, concern sexual and reproductive health and rights, and date to the mid-1980s, but each prohibits different types of activities, apply to different types of organizations and entities, and have different legal statuses.

Read our fact sheet to learn more about the similarities and differences between the two.