Since first established in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, the Global Gag Rule has harmed global health and disrupted sexual and reproductive health and HIV programs. Reports on the dangerously expanded rules likely to be issued today would move beyond the assault on women’s health and bodily autonomy and lay bare the US administration’s broader war on gender, diversity, equity and inclusion, underscoring their relentless agenda of control over people and programs.
The expanded Gag Rule restricts the ability of organizations to engage in advocacy and education programs, discrimination protections, and legal reform, anywhere in the world, in any program, with anyone’s funding. This will silence healthcare providers, undermine civil society, and deny people access to essential information and services. The expansion of this policy threatens the very integrity of evidence-based care and foreign assistance.
“This cruel Gag Rule is bad politics and bad policy,” said AVAC Executive Director Mitchell Warren. “Expanding it represents further weaponization of US funding to impose ideology at the expense of lives and livelihoods. Restricting information and activities that providers deem necessary puts individuals, communities and especially women, girls, LGBTQI+ people, and others at higher risk of poor sexual health outcomes including HIV and other infections. It also weakens the very systems required to respond to global health emergencies and prepare for future pandemics.”
People’s needs—not politics—must be at the heart of what drives US investments, programs, and global engagement. The Global Gag Rule plays politics with people’s health and lives. AVAC calls for the immediate rejection of the Global Gag Rule and any expansion of it and urges US lawmakers to uphold science, human rights, and public health.
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About AVAC
AVAC is an international non-profit organization that provides an independent voice and leverages global partnerships to accelerate ethical development and equitable delivery of effective HIV prevention options, as part of a comprehensive and integrated pathway to global health equity. Follow AVAC on Bluesky and Instagram. Find more at www.avac.org and www.prepwatch.org.