06 October 2020
A study commissioned by the European Parliament's Women's Rights and Gender Equality committee (FEMM), looking at the EU's response to the 'Global Gag Rule', which "blocks US aid funds for organizations or groups that perform abortion services, provide information about sexual and reproductive health rights, and advocate for abortion."
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Evaluating the EU’s Response to the US Global Gag Rule: State of play and challenges ahead (pdf):
"In 2019, the US announced a further expansion of the previous Mexico City Policy (MCP), also referred to as the Global Gag Rule (GAG/GGR), which blocks US aid funds for organizations or groups that perform abortion services, provide information about sexual and reproductive health rights, and advocate for abortion. According to this latest widening of the scope of the MCP, funds are also blocked to organizations that merely support other organizations engaged in the provision of abortion services or pro-abortion advocacy.
The promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights has been one priority of EU’s external action in the last few decades. To this aim, the European Union (EU) has increasingly integrated gender equality as a fundamental value in its external policy. In the context of the EU’s gender policy framework, the EU has been unreservedly and progressively promoting a multi-dimensional agenda for sexual and reproductive health and rights including both the ‘human development’ aspect and ‘rights’ dimensions. This commitment also manifested in taking up a leading role in negotiating the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, which today also serves as a guideline for designing and implementing EU external aid policies.
The present study seeks to contribute to a better comprehension of the impact of the expanded US Gag Rules on EU’s external aid policies and actions and to evaluate the EU and the EU Member States’ responses to counter the effects of the reinstated US policy."
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