Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has condemned the Trump Administration’s recent reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, more commonly known as the Global Gag Rule, as well as the US government’s support of the ‘Geneva Consensus Declaration.’
Global Gag Rule
The Global Gag Rule prevents organisations abroad from using their own non-US government funds to provide or advocate for safe abortion care as a condition to receive US global health assistance.
This includes direct services, as well as information, counseling, and referrals, even in countries where abortion is legal. When the policy was last in place from 2017 to 2021, critical health programs were disrupted and suspended in low- and middle-income countries. In 2017, President Trump expanded the Global Gag Rule to all US global health assistance, affecting an estimated $12 billion, including more than 1,300 global health grants in more than 70 countries
In a statement, MSF USA CEO Avril Benoît says: “There are deadly consequences anytime access to sexual and reproductive health care is restricted.”
She adds: “In the countries where MSF works, our staff see the lifesaving impact of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services—and we have seen patients who have died or suffered life-altering injuries because they were denied access to care. In emergency cases where urgent care is needed, delays in access to safe abortion care pose substantial risks to patients’ health and wellbeing. While MSF stands committed to ensuring people have access to essential medical services, we can’t do it alone. Across the world, we work closely with other health providers who are now essentially banned from doing their jobs and providing patients with essential information, referrals, and direct services.”
To stop the pervasive harm caused by the Global Gag Rule, MSF USA is calling for a permanent end to the policy. MSF USA supports the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (Global HER) Act, which would permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule, and preserve access to safe abortion care.
Geneva Consensus Declaration
The Geneva Consensus Declaration is a non-binding political statement which asserts that country governments have no obligation to facilitate abortion care. According to MSF, the Geneva Consensus Declaration purposefully distorts the meaning of international agreements on health and human rights in support of this position to rationalize restrictions on patient-centered sexual and reproductive health services.
Double threat to reproductive rights
The medical agency says that the consequences of the Global Gag Rule and influence of the Geneva Consensus Declaration will be far-reaching and harmful for any person who can become pregnant, including people seeking health care in crisis- and conflict-affected settings, like those in which MSF operates.
MSF argues that when safe abortion care is not accessible, it increases the likelihood that individuals will seek out unsafe abortion methods, one of the leading causes of maternal death and injury worldwide. The risk of unsafe abortion is elevated in humanitarian settings where it’s even harder for people to access medical services. In 2023, MSF provided more than 31,000 consultations for post-abortion care, most of which were due to complications related to unsafe abortion. With the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule, MSF expects these already troubling numbers to increase.
