The expanded global gag rule is an assault on reproductive health

MSI statement on the global gag rule expansion

Responding to reports that the Trump administration will expand the global gag rule, Beth Schlachter, MSI’s Senior Director for US External Relations, said:

“The State Department’s confirmation that they will be announcing an unprecedented expansion of the global gag rule marks a continuation of this administration’s assault on abortion rights and an escalation of efforts to export U.S. domestic abortion policy abroad.

“It puts people’s health, rights, and lives at risk and follows the Project 2025 playbook to export the administration’s agenda to ban abortion; discriminate against trans, nonbinary, and intersex people; and restrict work on diversity, equity, and inclusion, advancing gender equality, and LGBTQI+ rights. 

“Just as the Trump administration has aggressively sought to cripple abortion access at home, they are now attempting to do the same worldwide. This follows the abrupt and deadly withdrawal of U.S. development and humanitarian assistance in 2025, which overnight, decimated decades of trust, disrupted lifesaving services and deprived women and girls of essential healthcare and reproductive choices.

“The moment is made even more alarming by new U.S. guidance instructing embassies to scrutinize countries’ abortion laws and prevalence for its annual report on global human rights abuses: a sharp departure from its long-established focus on freedom of speech, free elections, rule of law, and political persecution and torture.  

“Combined with signals that some forms of contraception may be treated by the U.S. as abortifacients, it’s clear they intend to keep up their assault on reproductive health worldwide.

“We will continue to stand strong, working with our partners around the world to ensure that everyone can get the lifechanging care that they need.”