The Progressive Perspective: On FOCA and the lifting of the global gag rule

Three days after becoming the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama took his shot in the 25-year tetherball match over whether the United States Agency for International Development can provide monetary assistance to any international nongovernmental organization that “performs or actively promotes abortion as a method of family planning” in foreign countries. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan issued an executive order preventing all non-governmental organizations that receive U.S. funds from providing advice, counseling or any information pertaining to abortion. Issued in Mexico City, this order became known as the “Mexico City gag rule” or the “global gag rule” and was rescinded by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and reinstated by President George W. Bush in 2001.

In rescinding the gag rule, President Obama said “For the past eight years, they have undermined efforts to promote safe and effective voluntary family planning in developing countries…For these reasons, it is right for us to rescind this policy and restore critical efforts to protect and empower women and promote global economic development.”

The global gag rule not only runs contrary to the American ideal of free speech but also reduces the ability of NGOs to obtain USAID condoms and other forms of contraception, thus leading to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancies and abortions – effectively undermining its own ideologically-driven goals.

Along similar lines is the reaction to a bill in the both House and Senate (H.R. 1964, S. 1173) called The Freedom of Choice Act. FOCA seeks to codify a woman’s right to control her reproductive functions prior to fetal viability as proscribed in Roe v. Wade. President Obama vocally supported FOCA as a senator and candidate for the presidency, drawing a strong response from the pro-life community. All over the Internet you can find links and Facebook groups pledging to “Fight FOCA.” It is clear that the people who create these pages either have not read the legislation or are attempting to propagate lies pertaining to the actual legislative content of the bill. The Web site www.fightfoca.com asserts the bill would “eliminate every restriction on abortion nationwide,” including bans on partial birth abortions. The legislation actually reads, “It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman.”

FOCA merely reasserts a woman’s right to control her body as declared in Roe v. Wade and in no way strikes down partial birth abortion bans. Viability is defined in the legislation as when the physician determines “there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained survival of the fetus outside of the woman,” thus, all legislation restricting abortion after fetal viability that contains exceptions for mother’s health and safety are not necessarily nullified.

Abortion is a complex and important issue. The World Health Organization estimates that globally, 80,000 of the 600,000 annual pregnancy-related deaths are caused by unsafe abortions. Poll after poll reveals that the majority of Americans are pro-choice, and a Quinnipiac poll this summer revealed that 65 percent of Americans support the decision in Roe v. Wade. Barack Obama’s actions are in accord with my beliefs and the beliefs of the majority of the country – abortions should be legal, abortions should be safe and women should have the support necessary to make abortions more rare than they currently are.