Have to silence SA
vene the law of a sovereign state,” he argues.
But Honermann warns that this still leaves local organisations in a difficult position.
South Africa is one of only five African countries with liberal abortion laws, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit public health research organisation.
Honermann fears that, if South African organisations and the government exercise their rights under the gag rule, they may lose US funding in the future.
Meanwhile, Roose-Snyder says confusion about the exemptions possible under the policy works to the advantage of US conservative politicians who back the policy.
“They want organisations to be confused and completely stop their abortion advocacy in every way,” she says.
Roose-Snydr explains “Organisations can still perform, counsel or refer abortions in cases of incest, rape and life endangerment, or if the pregnant person states they want a legal abortion and asks where to go. US-funded NGOs can still collaborate with organisations working on abortion, as long as the collaborative activities are not related to abortion.” he gag rule was announced by US Republican president Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Tfrom the opposition Democrats has repealed the policy, only to have it reinstated by each Republican successor. But Caroline Schneider, assistant spokesperson at the US embassy, says the US government remains committed to supporting global health programmes.
“[The reintroduction of the Act] does not reduce the amount of global health assistance the US government makes available,” she says.
According to Schneider, the US government has trained its officials based around the world on the policy and is encouraging NGOs with questions to contact these officials with their queries.
The US government is also conducting a six-month review of the local effects of the gag rule, including what challenges NGOs have faced in implementing the policy. The analysis is expected to pay special attention to US global health programmes, including those targeting HIV and malaria.
In the seven years after former president George W Bush’s 2001 reintroduction of the law, the abortion rate in 20 African countries increased by 40%, a 2011 study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization found.
Researchers argued that the dramatic increase in abortions was probably fuelled by a reduction in funding for groups that provide contraception under the policy, although they admitted the study did not find definitive proof of this.
As contraception became scarcer in countries affected by the gag rule, women turned to abortions to deal with an increased number of unwanted pregnancies, the authors posited.
Trump’s order may result in similar or worse outcomes in the years ahead, cautions Amfar policy associate Jennifer Sherwood.
She warns that the gag rule will restrict US funding for key reproductive health organisations, forcing clinic closures and cutbacks — which, in turn, limits family planning services, increases unintended pregnancies and may lead to more unsafe abortions.
Reproductive health organisation Marie Stopes International estimates the Mexico City policy could result in 6.5-million unintended pregnancies and almost 22 000 maternal deaths in the next three years.