Thank your senators for their votes to overturn the global gag rule!

Last week during consideration of the State Department Reauthorization Bill, the Senate passed an amendment offered by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), which would overturn the global gag rule. The gag rule, a Reagan-era policy reinstated by President Bush on his first day in office, requires organizations that accept U.S. international family planning assistance to agree not to provide abortions. They also may not refer patients to other abortion providers, counsel patients on the option of abortion, or even lobby for abortion legalization or reform in their countries. They may not participate in any of these activities, even if they do so with their own funds.

Please take a moment to thank your senators for standing up for women around the world.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Thank you for supporting the Global Democracy Promotion Act

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Thank you for supporting the Global Democracy Promotion Act offered by Senator Barbara Boxer.

Your vote clearly demonstrates your commitment to protecting the lives of women and their families around the world. Because so many organizations refuse to accept the terms of the global gag rule, this policy has severely restricted access to family planning information and supplies, prenatal care and delivery assistance, and HIV-testing and prevention information, among other reproductive health care services.

Unfortunately, your colleagues in the Senate who did not support the amendment missed an opportunity to send the strong message that the United States cares about the health and rights of women everywhere. Thank you again for acknowledging the terrible impact the global gag rule has had on the lives of women and the need to overturn this dangerous policy.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
April 19, 2005

Background Information

Since it was reinstated by President Bush on his first day in office, the global gag rule has had a devastating impact. For example,

The Family Planning Association of Kenya has had to close three clinics that served 56,000 clients in underserved communities and raise fees at the remaining clinics.

The St. Lucia Planned Parenthood Association was forced to cancel plans to train 218 "peer helpers" from eight secondary schools and one primary school. This program would have reached 12,000 school-aged children with information about HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health.

The Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE) operates 18 clinics, 24 youth service centers, 671 community-based reproductive health care sites, and hundreds of other health care facilities. The global gag rule has cost it more than $500,000, even though abortion is illegal in Ethiopia and the FGAE doesn't provide abortion services. It does, however, seek to educate local policymakers about the role that unsafe abortion plays in Ethiopia's staggering maternal mortality rate. The result is a loss of services to 301,054 women and 229,947 men in urban areas.

Read more about the devastating consequences of the global gag rule: Access Denied: The Global Gag Rule Impact Project