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Across the Board, Most Americans Oppose the Global Gag Rule
New Bipartisan Polling from CHANGE and PAI Reveals a Majority of Voters Oppose Banning U.S. Global Health Assistance to non-U.S. Organizations That Provide Abortion Care or Referrals to Women
A bipartisan poll commissioned by the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) and PAI released today reveals that across age, education level, gender, race, political party and even abortion stance, the majority of American voters are opposed to “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance,” also known as the Global Gag Rule. Nearly 60% of voters reject the policy, which prohibits non-U.S., nongovernmental organizations receiving global health assistance from using their own, non-U.S. funds to provide services, information or referrals for abortions, or to advocate for the legalization or liberalization of abortion services.
CHANGE and PAI engaged public opinion research firms American Viewpoint and Lake Research Partners to conduct a joint nationwide survey among voters to determine the favorability of the Global Gag Rule. The first-of-its-kind survey also measured opinions on the U.S.’s role in providing foreign assistance to other countries for medical care.
Findings include:
- Over half (59%) of voters oppose banning U.S. global health assistance to health care organizations in other countries that provide abortions or referrals to women even if they use their own funding. Three-in-ten (30%) favor banning assistance to these organizations.
- Compared to those in favor of it, nearly twice as many Democrats (58%), Independents (57%), and Republicans (60%) are opposed to the ban.
- A solid majority (60%) favor the U.S. providing foreign assistance to other countries for medical care.
“The Global Gag Rule interferes with access to life-saving medical care, including the prevention and treatment of HIV, and is clearly not reflective of American voter values and attitudes. Across party lines, the majority of voters agree: it is health providers—not U.S. politicians—that know what is best for their patients,” says Serra Sippel, president of CHANGE.
“This polling confirms what we’ve always known—access to quality medical care is a bipartisan issue, and letting health providers make decisions about what to do with their own money is common sense,” says Suzanne Ehlers, President and CEO of PAI.
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About CHANGE
CHANGE is a Washington, D.C.-based women’s rights organization that promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights as a means to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by shaping public discourse, elevating women’s voices, and influencing the U.S. government. To learn more, visit genderhealth.org.
About PAI
PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington and our network of partners in developing countries to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 50 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
Last night, the Trump-Pence administration proposed restrictions on Title X funding akin to a domestic version of the Global Gag Rule—a move that would take away women’s basic health, rights, and freedoms. The new guidelines would prohibit recipients of federal family planning funding from providing abortion care, educating patients about abortion options, or making referrals to abortion providers. This would force providers to choose between receiving Title X funding and offering the full range of sexual and reproductive health information and services.
“As we have witnessed from three decades of the Global Gag Rule, senseless and cruel restrictions like the ones proposed for Title X would deprive women of their right to information and care they need, including contraception, cancer screenings, routine health exams and safe abortion services,” said Suzanne Ehlers, President and CEO of PAI.
“PAI has begun documenting preliminary impacts from President Trump’s expanded Global Gag Rule in several countries, where health providers have had to cut back on staff, sever ties with key partners and close programs, limiting communities’ access to health care. Unfortunately, we can expect similar consequences under a domestic gag rule. The evidence is clear—whenever and wherever this policy has been imposed, women’s lives have been endangered.”
In PAI’s past documentation of the effects of the Global Gag Rule restrictions on international family planning assistance under President George W. Bush, the policy reduced access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and devastated health systems around the world by undermining the most effective and experienced health care providers and putting their services out of reach. Established providers were forced to close clinics and cut services, clients were deprived of contraceptives, rural and youth community distribution programs were cut back, HIV/AIDS prevention efforts were weakened and screenings and treatments for sexually transmitted infections were reduced.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington and our network of partners in developing countries to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 50 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.