On Thursday, President Joe Biden rescinded the deadly Global Gag Rule, marking a new era for reproductive health and rights worldwide.
I have volunteered with the #Fight4HER campaign for the past eight months and advocated for an end to this devastating policy, which bars health care organizations overseas that receive U.S. funding from so much as mentioning the word abortion despite all of the other health care provided by these organizations. As you may imagine, the policy primarily impacts low-income and people of color around the world dependent on international aid.
After the campaign’s tireless effort leading up to the 2020 presidential election, health care providers working in marginalized communities worldwide will once again be able to provide their patients with comprehensive reproductive health care.
Though the rescindment of the Global Gag Rule is a huge win in the fight for reproductive health and rights for everyone, everywhere, there is still much work to do. Congress must pass the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (HER) Act to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule and ensure no future president can ever again implement this deadly policy.
We are lucky to have our U.S. senator, Jeanne Shaheen, as the primary sponsor of the Global HER Act in the Senate. Thank you to U.S. Reps, Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas and U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan for your co-sponsorship in the House and Senate, respectively. We are fortunate that our U.S. senators and representatives have set reproductive health care as a priority. Now if only we can get our state legislators to prioritize and protect reproductive health care.
LIZ BOUCHER
Concord