Making America Great Again (while screwing over the rest of the world)

January 23, 2017 marks a proud day for the pro-lifers, in our country, and a catastrophic day for women and pro-choice individuals, around the world. As our new President, Donald Trump, sat at the head of a table, surrounded by white men, he signed an executive order that strips away an essential right of women around the world. The executive order is halting all NGO overseas funding for those who provide abortion services or vocalize abortion as an option.

For those brave organizations who wish to retaliate and continue to speak their mind on the importance of abortion funding, beware. Trump will not deal with any practices of our right to freedom of speech. He is teaching the country to keep quiet and shut up or he will target them directly. Providers who refuse to sign the Global Gag Rule will lose all US funding, donated contraceptives and the leadership and technical support provided by the US international family planning program.

A quote from the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America comments on the tragedy:

With this action, Donald Trump has turned his anti-women rhetoric into policy, and made it more difficult for women and families all over the world to access vital reproductive care. He really is living up to the lowest of expectations.

Apart from the fact that this executive order is a disgusting restriction on women’s rights around the world, it is simply another act by Trump to take away a fundamental human right, because he does not agree with it. The toll this order will have on women in developing countries is nothing less than cruel and unprecedented.

Let us look at some important points, discussed in an American Progress article on the recent action.

There are nearly 225 million women in the developing world that are unable to access contraception and now this will increase dramatically
It is not only abortion rights that will be negatively affected by this Gag Rule, but also HIV/AIDS prevention and maternal and child health
We will see increases in maternal deaths, unintended pregnancies and rates of unsafe abortion
Tens of thousands of deaths are due to unsafe abortions

The importance of NGO funding for developing countries is inarguable, seeing as the US is the world’s largest bilateral donor of international family planning. The devastating blow to these countries will leave these countries to fend for themselves.

All of the memes about Donald Trump were spot on. His place in office really will reverse the progressive steps the United States has fought to make, for the last several centuries.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/01/trump_s_global_gag_rule_is_even_worse_than_it_seemed.html

Diamond, A. (2017, January 23). Trump Strikes at Abortion With a Revived Foreign-Aid Rule. Retrieved January 29, 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/01/mexico-city-policy/514010/
Contributor, A. S. (2017, January 30). Trump's global gag rule hurts the world's most vulnerable women. Retrieved January 29, 2017, from http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/316930-trumps-global-gag-rule-on-abortion-hurts-the-world/
Goldberg, M. (2017, January 24). Trump Didn’t Just Reinstate the Global Gag Rule. He Massively Expanded It. Retrieved January 29, 2017, from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/01/trump_s_global_gag_rule_is_even_worse_than_it_seemed.html