On his first business day in office, President George W. Bush flouted free expression by reinstating a U.S. government policy, known alternatively as the Mexico City Policy and the Global Gag Rule, that requires international
women's health advocates to sacrifice their right to free expression in exchange for U.S. funding.
"By issuing this executive order, President Bush undermines the principle of free expression that has been and should be a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy," said Regan Ralph, executive director of the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. "U.S. aid should be used to promote human rights, not to undermine the free exercise of a core human right."
This restriction, first adopted by President Reagan in 1984 and announced during a population conference in Mexico City, prohibits international nongovernmental family planning organizations from receiving U.S. funds if, with their own separate funds, they engage in legal abortion-related activities, including talking with clients about abortion, disseminating information about abortion, or engaging in advocacy to change or reform abortion laws. By putting at risk these organizations' ability to serve their clients, this policy curtails their ability to offer all appropriate medical care and fully exercise their right to free expression.
"Reinstating the Mexico City Policy makes the Bush administration look as if it is committed, not to principles of free expression, but to buying off dissent and stifling open debate," added Ralph.
Human Rights Watch urged the Bush administration to rescind the executive order that prevents international family planning organizations from receiving U.S. humanitarian aid if they are using separate funds to engage in free expression activities related to reproductive health care that includes abortion.
