As you might have heard, the first order that Donald Trump signed (surrounded by several men) was an anti-abortion executive order. This action puts women’s access to reproductive health services at risk worldwide.
Here’s what went down:
- President Trump reinstated the Mexico City policy, aka the Global Gag Rule.
- It prohibits giving U.S. funding to international nongovernment organizations (like Planned Parenthood) that offer a wide range of reproductive health options or family planning advice if they include abortions.
- This is still the case even if U.S. money isn’t used for abortion-related services.
Fun Fact: The U.S. spends ~$600 million annually on international assistance for family planning and reproductive health services. NONE OF THIS MONEY IS SPENT ON PERFORMING ABORTIONS. The money went towards the 27 million women and men that were able to access contraceptive supplies and services.
What this means & what we should know:
- There is major confusion at the White House because The Helms Amendment stopped the U.S. from funding overseas abortions in 1973. The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, prevents federal spending on abortions in America unless it’s for the purpose of saving a woman’s life or if the woman became pregnant from incest or rape.
- Abortions won’t stop because of the “Defund Planned Parenthood” movement in the White House. The funding will just be cut off.
- However, defunding PP isn’t defunding abortions. It’s defunding services such as pap smears, breast exams, flu vaccines, access to save and effective birth control, STI & UTI screenings, pregnancy tests, pregnancy counseling and much more. @femislay
- A major part of this executive order is aiming to remove regulatory fines imposed by the Affordable Care Act. Part of the Affordable Care Act is “the birth control benefit.” It’s the part of the act that makes insurance plans cover all FDA-approved forms of birth control for women without them having to pay out-of-pocket. (This coverage makes it safe for women to plan pregnancy to happen at a time following better opportunities for educational experience and at a time of greater financial security.)
- Access to birth control does not only affect pregnancy prevention, it provides health benefits to millions of women worldwide.
- Birth control reduces the risk of endometrial, ovarian, and colon cancer.
- Birth control treats painful, heavy and irregular periods that make day-to-day life very difficult. Not only do irregular menstrual cycles deter women and girls from participating in extra-curricular activities, work and school, heavy periods can lead to medical complications like anemia.
- Birth control also helps with endometriosis-caused pelvic pain. Endometriosis occurs in one in ten women, mostly diagnosed in women in their 30s and 40s. Endometriosis can also lead to infertility. One of the first treatments doctors turn to are birth control pills.
To President Trump and other conservatives who are trying to advocate for abstinence and take a stand against sexual freedom: that’s not what’s happening here. You’re putting women at an elevated risk for cancer, unmanageable menstrual cycles and female-specific diseases, as well as stripping them of a human right to a planned pregnancy. And as for our VP, Mr. Pence, for someone who believes “Life is winning America,” maybe let women live theirs.