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On Thursday, US President Joe Biden canceled a regulation that barred US foreign aid from being used to perform or promote abortions. His decision was cheered by abortion-choice advocates and some humanitarian groups and denounced by anti-abortion groups. President Biden’s move came just a week after he was inaugurated and fulfills a campaign pledge to reverse a policy that previous Republican presidents have instated immediately on taking office. The policy has been a political ping-pong ball, bouncing back and forth between Republican and Democratic presidents since it was first enacted in 1985 during former President Ronald Reagan’s second term. The White House said, “Like memoranda issued by President Clinton and President Obama before him, it immediately rescinds the global gag rule, also referred to as the Mexico City Policy which bars international non-profits that provide abortion counseling or referrals from receiving US funding”.

Point to be noted that critics of the policy said it hurts women’s reproductive health care and contributes to poverty worldwide. Supporters argue it is essential to preserve the sanctity of life. The former president Trump had expanded the rule to include nearly all federal health funding. But, its effects were felt most abroad, where US assistance can be an essential part of a country’s health care spending. However, supporters of the policy argued that the overall amount of US health care aid was not affected. Critics maintained that it contributed to a rise in pregnancy-related complications as well other issues by forcing some clinics to reduce broader health services, including for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other infectious diseases if they needed to retain funding. Reaction to Biden’s decision was swift and sharp, even before it was officially announced.

It is noteworthy that abortion-rights groups and Democratic legislators hailed it as key to improving women’s lives, while anti-abortion groups denounced it as immoral and unnecessary. The only woman on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jeanne Shaheen said, “The Global Gag Rule has had a sweeping effect on lifesaving health care in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world. It is shameful that the Trump administration chose to not only implement but exponentially expand this ill-conceived policy to historic proportions. While we are relieved to see a halt to this dangerous policy, there is much more work to do to mitigate the damage we have witnessed. Rescinding the Global Gag Rule is just a first step. Millions of women still don’t have access to safe abortion care because of restrictive laws, cost, stigma, a lack of trained providers, or other unnecessary barriers, such as mandatory waiting periods or misleading information”.