Global Gag Rule To Be Reversed Today

by Jen Nedeau · 2009-01-23 11:05:00 UTC
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As many of you may know, the 36th anniversary of  Roe v. Wade occurred yesterday. I wrote up a piece describing the historic anniversary here at Change.org, and also suggested that the anniversary might be an appropriate time for President Obama to reverse the Mexico City Policy, which is commonly known as the Global Gag Rule.

And while President Obama did not reverse the Global Gag Rule yesterday - something that was criticized by a few women's rights activists - it has just been reported by several news outlets that he will thankfully reverse the policy today.

For those who are unaware, the obstructive policy was instated by George Bush eight years ago, required non-governmental organizations to "agree as a condition of their receipt of [U.S.] federal funds" that they will "neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations." The policy had exceptions for abortions done in response to rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions.

For symbolic reasons, it would have been nice to hear the announcement during the anniversary of Roe v. Wade because it would have honored the fact that in my opinion, the future of that decision hinged on electing a Democrat to the White House. I knew a lot of women who did vote for Obama once they realized that the risk of losing the Supreme Court and the Roe decision was at hand. Reversing the Global Gag Rule on that anniversary could have said a lot about the changes Americans are going to make on a global scale under the Obama administration.

Regardless of timing, however, the reversal of the Global Gag Rule is big win for the people who voted for Obama. Not only does it honor the millions of women who voted for Obama (unmarried women delivered a stunning 70 to 29 percent margin to Obama) but it also sends a huge message to the global community that finally, after eight years, the privileges American women enjoy in terms of access to contraception and medical procedures is again available to be distributed by American NGOs abroad.

In a time where the AIDS epidemic continues to grow and gender based violence serves as a weapon of war in many nations, particularly in Africa, reversing the Global Gag Rule is going to serve as an embrace of women who live around the world by allowing them to empower themselves with contraception, protection and reproductive procedures.

This is the change I was hoping to see.

Jen Nedeau Jen Nedeau is a media relations professional and a writer based in New York City.
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