Blog by Tamika Thomas, Junior Associate
11.7 million women and girls are denied access to contraceptive care in 2025, 4.2 million unintended pregnancies and 8,340 will die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth.[1] Women’s reproductive rights have historically been discussed at dinner tables during holidays, at water coolers during breaks, and in courtrooms during election years. These rights have consistently faced attacks worldwide, adversely affecting the reproductive healthcare available to women of all ages. rights impede progress toward health and gender equity, inclusion, and human rights for all women.[2] The Global Gag Rule (GGR) and the Mexico City Policy (MCP) are international measures that impede human and women’s reproductive rights by restricting foreign organizations from providing abortions with U.S. global health assistance.[3]The Global Gag Rule (GGR) as a policy has created practices that weaken women’s rights while fostering systems that deny women reproductive and health rights.[4] The systemic violation of women’s rights hidden behind the veil of policy obstructs access to reproductive health and rights, leading to social injustices and inequitable allocation of resources. [5] Reproductive and health rights are essential to the health and well-being of women, and without these fundamental rights, women and society will suffer from long-term harm on family planning, the prosperity of society, and financial planning, which can each disproportionately affect communities. [6]The inadequate healthcare offered to women leads to an increase in unplanned pregnancies, which is followed by a push of women out of the labor market, which can push them into poverty.[7] The interruption of family planning dynamics, is how the Global Gag Rule (GGR) can interfere with women being able to have autonomy over their family size. [8]
Family planning is the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births.[9] Family planning can be achieved through contraception (such as birth control pills, condoms, intrauterine devices, etc.), fertility awareness methods, or even sterilization.[10] The GGR’s halt of family services can promote unplanned pregnancies and encourage dangerous abortion practices that can be life threatening.[11] The women are left to decide if to have an unplanned pregnancy or have an opportunity to contribute to society by participating in the workforce or becoming scholar .[12] The limitations of a woman’s choice are rooted in the principles of the GGR that do not offer reproductive justice, which is a human right for women to control their sexuality, gender, work, and reproduction.[13] When women can make decisions about their reproductive health, they are better able to contribute to their communities, pursue their personal goals, and lead fulfilling lives. Conversely, when these rights are restricted, both women and society suffer long-term harm, with consequences that ripple through generations.[15] The Global Gag Rule (GGR) and the Mexico City Policy (MCP) are policies that continue the threat of women reproductive freedoms and must be repealed to eliminate the threats of women’s healthcare.[16]
[1] Partners In Health, How the Global Gag Rule Harms Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights, PARTNERS IN HEALTH (Jan. 31, 2025), https://www.pih.org/article/global-gag-rule-impact.
[2] Id.
[3] KFF, The Mexico City Policy: An Explainer, KFF (Jan. 28, 2021), https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/the-mexico-city-policy-an-explainer/.
[4] Id.
[5] United Nations Human Rights Office, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, OHCHR, https://www.ohchr.org/en/women/sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights (last visited Mar. 6, 2025).
[6] See PIH, supra note 1.
[7] See Access to Healthcare: Why We Must Prioritize Women and Girls.
[8] Jennifer Kates & Kellie Moss, Impact of the Mexico City Policy: Literature Review, KFF (July 17, 2024), https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/impact-of-the-mexico-city-policy-literature-review/.
[9] Id.
[10] World Health Organization, Family Planning/Contraception, WHO (Nov. 28, 2023), https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/family-planning-contraception.
[11] Mavodza, C., Goldman, R., & Cooper, B., The Impacts of the Global Gag Rule on Global Health: A Scoping Review, Glob. Health Res. Policy 4, 26 (2019).
[12] Mina Yazdkhasti et al., Unintended Pregnancy and Its Adverse Social and Economic Consequences on Health System: A Narrative Review Article, Iran J. Pub. Health, vol. 44, at 12 (2015).
[13] Black Reproductive Justice, Black Reproductive Justice (2025), https://blackrj.org/.
[14] Rasheed Malik & Jamille Fields Allsbrook, Linking Reproductive Health Care Access to Labor Market Opportunities for Women, Ctr. for Am. Progress (Jan. 21, 2021).
[15] Id.
[16] Global Gag Rule Must Be Repealed for Good, Lancet HIV, vol. 8, issue 3, at e121 (2021).