Huffington Post: The Mexico City Policy does not Actually Consider Women’s Health
Joel Lamstein, president and CEO of John Snow Inc. (JSI) & World Education, and Merce Gasco, senior technical adviser at JSI Research & Training Institute

“…The Mexico City policy has nothing to do with public health; it is purely political. … Forcing organizations to forgo U.S. government funding for a broad array of health services if an organization even wants to mention abortion as an option, ensures that this policy will have a detrimental effect on women’s health — and adolescent, child, newborn, and prenatal health, as well. As a public health consulting firm, JSI is well aware that international evidence clearly shows that legal restrictions do not reduce the number of abortions. Instead, they actually increase the number of risky procedures because women resort to illegal and unsafe service providers. … If the U.S. government wants to reduce the number of abortions performed, it should support policies that support women, e.g., family planning. Until that happens, poor, undereducated women with fewer options will continue to be the ones who suffer most. And rates of abortion will not drop” (1/27).

STAT: Trump’s global gag rule silences doctors and midwives and harms their patients
Catharine Taylor, vice president for health programs at Management Sciences for Health

“…The global gag rule … steps right between a woman and her doctor, nurse, or midwife, preventing these frontline health providers from telling their patients about the full, legal range of health options available to them. … Under the Trump version of the global gag rule, millions of women in some of the poorest places in the world will lose access to affordable, high-quality, comprehensive reproductive health care, and will be less able to make informed health choices. … The U.S. investment in global health will be much less effective. Global health experts know that access to family planning and accurate, comprehensive health information saves lives. By restricting that access, the global gag rule does the opposite, harming the well-being and resiliency of families, communities, nations, and economies. Organizations should not be disqualified from participating in U.S.-funded health projects because they use their own funds to provide the accurate, comprehensive health information that their patients need, and services that are legal in their own countries. If they are, it is women who will pay the price” (1/27).