The next time you pass by the library steps, you may notice some rather disturbing posters hanging around campus.
If you stop to take a look, you'll see some well-known professors and students with their mouths covered by their hands or a piece of cloth. Yes, it's true; these people are attempting to look like they are being gagged. If you look closer, you'll notice a caption that explains the point of these voluntary acts of captivity. The posters are bringing awareness to and protesting a law that most Americans don't even know exists: the global gag rule.
Of course, the PC name for this law is slightly different. It is known around the White House as the Mexico City Policy. First enacted by Reagan in 1984, this law prohibits foreign NGOs and any other organizations working overseas from using U.S. funds for abortion services, counseling, equipment or lobbying by their family planning programs abroad.
On Bush's second day in office, he reinstated this policy, which is commonly referred to by American family planning groups as the global gag rule. While this may not be surprising given the conservative Republican views of the Bush administration, this rule in fact limits many organizations in areas other than simply abortion.
The global gag rule requires NGOs to sign provisions agreeing that they will not use U.S. funding to promote or provide abortion services. They are also not allowed to use this money to buy any equipment that can be used in abortions, and cannot use any grants received for these purposes. They can however, use foreign aid for these services as long as U.S. funds are put in a separate account and can perform these services if it is not using the money allocated for family planning, such as money for HIV prevention, according to a Population Action International brochure.
The brochure goes on to further state that organizations are also allowed to perform abortions in cases of rape, incest, or hazard to the mother's health, and are allowed to treat women who have injuries from illegal or unsafe abortions. While they can participate in abortion-related research regarding health and demographics, they cannot participate in biomedical research regarding abortions.
Although it seems as if there are many exceptions to the global gag rule that would allow organizations to still perform and promote legal abortion, this is not necessarily the case. Instead, according to Cara Hesse of Pathfinders International, the law cripples organizations working overseas from providing essential family planning resources. For example, although they are allowed to perform abortions in extreme cases, the organizations are not permitted to use U.S. funds to buy the necessary equipment to perform the procedure.
The Population Action International brochure goes on to talk about how any mention of the "A word" can result in the total loss of United States Agency for International Development family planning funding. Government funds from the United States are often a huge source of income for these groups, and so these restrictions severely limit their abilities abroad.
Furthermore, although they are allowed to treat women who have had improper abortions, much of the same equipment used to perform abortions is needed to help these women. Therefore, these groups cannot provide the resources needed even to treat abortions in which they were not involved.
The restrictions also often prevent U.S. organizations from forming valuable partnerships with organizations abroad. Most of the time, local groups in the countries where the NGOs are working can greatly help in assisting with family planning programs and providing information to make the programs more effective in those areas.
However, because in most of these countries abortions are already legal, these grassroots organizations often support and promote them. American NGOs cannot form partnerships with any organization that supports abortion without losing U.S. funding, which makes up most of their total funding. Thus, it is extremely difficult for NGOs like Pathfinders to find suitable partnerships without being scrutinized by the U.S. government and risking the loss of valuable funds.
So why is it that with all these restrictions, we can still discuss, perform and allocate for abortions while in the United States? For now, our country is still protected by the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, although that could be overturned by the Federal Abortion Ban (passed in 2003) that is now circulating through the courts.
Even with the Ban, speaking out against the global gag rule is protected by the First Amendment. However, our government does not extend this right of freedom of speech to foreigners. This seems like the great paradox of our country: we fight wars under the banner of spreading democracy, yet we do not extend our inalienable rights to other nations.
As much as I am "proud to be an American," acts by our administration such as the global gag rule are really beginning to worry me. It seems that as our nation is growing older, the freedoms we take for granted are becoming more limited everyday.
So what can we do to help? For now, pay attention to the posters around campus and spread awareness about this unfair law. If you're interested in pro-choice and women's issues, come to the VOX meeting in the Women's Center next Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
Otherwise, keep an eye out and hope that it won't be America's home groups that are gagged next.
