AFRO-NETS> New Report about Global Gag Rule

[Merrill Wolf <WolfM@ipas.org>]

New Report about Global Gag Rule
--------------------------------
 
New Report Finds Global Gag Rule Contributes to More Unintended 
Pregnancies, Unsafe Abortion Overseas
 
Washington, DC - September 24 - Ipas, an international organiza-
tion dedicated entirely to ending the preventable deaths and dis-
abilities caused by unsafe abortion, joined a coalition of groups 
today in releasing "Access Denied", a new study documenting the 
harmful effects of the Bush Administration's restrictions on U.S. 
funding for international family planning, widely known as the 
Global Gag Rule. The policy prohibits U.S. family planning assis-
tance to foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that use 
funding from any source to perform, provide counselling or refer-
ral, or lobby for abortion. The study examines the consequences 
of this policy in Ethiopia, Kenya, Romania and Zambia.
 
"By denying women access to a full range of reproductive health 
services - including safe abortion in circumstances where it is 
legal - the policy only leads to more unwanted pregnancies, more 
unsafe abortions, and tragically, preventable deaths and injuries 
to the world's most vulnerable women and girls," said Barbara 
Crane, Ipas Executive Vice President. "And by prohibiting doctors 
and others working in local U.S.-funded NGOs from speaking out to 
their own policymakers, the Global Gag Rule stands in the way of 
efforts to end this carnage."
 
Project findings indicate that the Global Gag Rule reduces access 
to vital family planning and related health services by:
 
* Forcing the closure of established family planning organiza-
  tions and clinics
o Study finding: Five clinics in Kenya that provide family
  planning as well as pre- and post-natal obstetric care for
  mothers and well-baby care for infants have been closed because
  of the U.S. Gag Rule policy.
 
* Blocking supplies of U.S.-funded contraceptives to groups that
  don't comply with the restrictions
o Study finding: In Ethiopia, where the rate of maternal death
  is extremely high and women are often desperate for contracep-
  tion, a rural clinic that provided 70% of its clients with
  Depo-Provera has no more stock and has been cut off by USAID.
 
* Derailing the provision of contraceptive information and ser-
  vices to women who have had abortions - an essential step to
  reduce repeat abortions
o Study finding: In Romania, where abortion is widespread and
  unsafe abortion accounts for many maternal deaths and injuries,
  the Gag Rule has impeded efforts to provide post-abortion fam-
  ily planning counselling.
 
"As an international organization working to protect women's 
health throughout the developing world, we are witness to the 
dangerous effects of the Gag Rule every day," said Crane. "It 
forces private providers of family planning and other health ser-
vices to choose between accepting badly needed financial support 
from the United States and responding comprehensively to the 
health needs of the people they serve. Women suffer in either 
case."
 
For three decades, Ipas has worked with local partners throughout 
Africa, Asia and Latin America to provide training and medical 
equipment designed to prevent deaths and injuries from unsafe 
abortion, which claims the lives of nearly 70,000 women every 
year. Ipas is one of two U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations 
that stopped accepting U.S. government funding when the Global 
Gag Rule was announced.
 
The Global Gag Rule Impact Project was led by Population Action 
International, with Ipas and Planned Parenthood Federation of 
America as partners. Assistance in gathering evidence of impact 
in the field was provided by EngenderHealth and Pathfinder Inter-
national.
 
--
Note to Reporters, Editors, and Producers: The complete report, 
"Access Denied: U.S. Restrictions on International Family Plan-
ning," is available online at:
http://www.globalgagrule.org 
Video footage from Zambia is also available.
 
For more information, contact:
 
Merrill Wolf
Sr. Associate, Public Information
Ipas
Tel: +1-919-960-5612 or + 1-919-606-3866 (cell)
mailto:wolfm@ipas.org
http://www.ipas.org
 
OR
 
Jennifer Hahn
Vice President
Douglas Gould & Co., Inc.
Tel: +1-914-833-7093
mailto:jhahn@douglasgould.com

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