President Obama Overturns 'Global Gag Rule'
For Immediate Release: Jan. 30, 2014
(Hawthorne, NY) – Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic (PPHP) applauds President Obama for putting women’s health first by taking immediate action to overturn the harmful Mexico City Policy, also known as the “global gag rule.”
Reina Schiffrin, President/CEO, Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic (PPHP) issued the following statement:
“President Obama’s repeal of the global gag rule ushers in a new day for women’s health here and around the world, signaling that the U.S. can once again be a leader in the fight for equal access, rights and freedom for women around the world. For the past eight years, the Bush Administration’s gag rule has prevented countless women from receiving the full range of reproductive services they need to protect their health and strengthen their economic stability. Now, millions more women around the world will receive critical basic services including safe abortion and birth control. Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic thanks President Obama for making women’s health and safety a priority.”
For the last eight years, the rule has prevented foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from using their own funds to provide any services related to abortion, including counseling and referrals, if they wish to receive U.S. family planning assistance. The restrictions prevented health care providers from discussing abortion as an option, even if abortion is legal in their country, and preventing them from lobbying to make or keep abortion legal. The rule resulted in thousands of deaths among women in the developing world each year and left many without essential reproductive health care.
Source
Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, Inc.
Contact
Beverly Katz, (914) 467-7341
Published
January 26, 2009
Updated
January 30, 2009