Sophiah Muthoni - Contributing Writer

Seun Shokunbi - Editor

The 2024 U.S. presidential election will have a major impact on Black and African women not only living in America, but globally. Few American citizens know that funding for reproductive health services in several countries is contingent upon U.S. funding and global policy.  Under the Global Gag Rule (GGR), the U.S. specifically restricts foreign organizations receiving U.S. aid from providing or discussing abortion services, even if the procedures are legal locally or funded independently.

President Ronald Reagan introduced the GGR, also called the Mexico City Policy, in 1984. Since then, it was repealed and then reinstated as Democrats and Republicans took turns in the White House.

President Joe Biden repealed the rule in 2021 after President Donald Trump expanded it in 2017. Now that a second Trump term is inevitable, could the GGR come back?

Matchless Funding

According to the Brookings Institute, America donates the largest amount to global family planning, allocating $608 million in 2023 alone to 29 countries in Asia and Africa. Access to contraception, maternal mortality solutions, and HIV/AIDS prevention is contingent upon this support. Yet, the GGR has historically disrupted consistent cash flow to these initiatives.

During Trump’s last term, direct funding recipients under GGR could not partner with organizations in violation of GGR requirements, regardless of these partners’ funding sources. Results included clinics closing across African nations and reduced medical services across the continent.

Countries like Canada and the Netherlands tried to fill the gap, but their support does not fully replace lost U.S. subsidies.

Health Inequalities Abound

The Fuller Project reported that, in Sub-Saharan Africa, a Trump expansion of GGR limits access to contraception, leading to more unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and rising maternal mortality rates. Cuts to HIV prevention funding also increase infection rates among Black and African women across the diaspora. A return to GGR could worsen these outcomes.

Research by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows the GGR led to around 108,000 maternal and child deaths and 360,000 new HIV infections between 2017 and 2021. According to this academic paper, the highest mortality rates were recorded in 75.6% of those in sub-Sahara Africa, due to unsafe procedures.

What do experts predict under a second Trump presidency?

Amanda Seller, President at Marie Stopes International, warned, “If Trump is re-elected, he’s likely to reinstate the Global Gag Rule and even expand it further, which would mean rolling back reproductive rights for women...” Sadly, statistics show this would put Black and African women at risk disproportionately.