Despite running on a “pro-life” campaign platform for a year and a half, one of Donald Trump’s first actions as President of the United States will lead to millions more unintended pregnancies and abortions around the world.
On Monday, the unpopular new president signed an executive order to reinstate a rule – the global gag rule – that bars federal money from funding any nongovernment organization around the globe that administers abortion services, or even mentions abortion as an option for family planning services.
While the most devoted Trump loyalists will spin this as a good development for the “pro-life” cause, the real numbers – not the alternative facts – are pretty troubling.
More from Vox:
The gag rule will, however, lead to more women dying across the developing world. Marie Stopes International, a major global family planning organization, estimates that without alternative funding, the loss of its services alone will cause 6.5 million unintended pregnancies, 2.2 million abortions, 2.1 million unsafe abortions, and 21,700 maternal deaths just in Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2020. The organization says it will also be prevented from reaching 1.5 million women with contraception every year.
Trump’s decision to reinstate the rule will likely hurt the poorest and most vulnerable people around the globe.
As Vox also noted, “Large international family planning organizations like Marie Stopes International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation have been able to bring crucial contraceptive services to areas like West Africa that were poorly served before, PAI director of advocacy Jonathan Rucks said.”
“With the gag rule back in effect,” Vox reported, “Large geographic areas may simply lose services, including birth control.”
Surprise, surprise: The man who promised “some form of punishment” for women having abortions is following through on his promise – and women all around the globe will suffer as a result.
All of this just days after millions of women around the globe took to the streets to speak out against his presidency.
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