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President Donald Trump has reinstated a rule that bars any international organization that receive U.S. aid from providing abortions or giving any information about abortion, including medical advice or referrals, Politico reports. The policy has been instituted by executive order, as it has been by every Republican president since Ronald Reagan.
The "global gag rule," or “Mexico City Policy," prevents foreign organizations that take U.S. family planning money from putting any funds, from any donor, towards abortion-related services. The rule applies to countries in which abortion is legal. Two of USAID's largest family planning partners — Marie Stopes International (MSI) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation — will refuse to sign onto the policy, representatives for each organization told BuzzFeed News.
According to MSI, abortions increase by 2.2 million globally each year and 2.1 million of these procedures will be unsafe. The World Health Organization estimates that unsafe abortions account for 13% of maternal deaths globally.
In addition to reinstating the "global gag rule," Trump also signed two other executive orders that withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and impose a hiring freeze on federal workers, except for defense-related positions.