Senate Rejects Effort to Re-impose Global "Gag Rule"

The Senate Appropriations Committee has rejected a House subcommittee provision that would reinstate the global “gag rule.”  The rule, which President Obama repealed by executive order during his first month in office, prevents foreign organizations receiving U.S. family planning assistance from using their own non-U.S. funds to perform abortions, refer patients for an abortion or even provide counseling on abortion as an available option in countries where abortion is legal.  It also prevents them from advocating for the legalization of abortion in countries where it is not legal.  The Senate language, in a clear challenge to the vote taken by the House subcommittee, would permanently repeal the gag rule.

The battle over the “gag rule,” however, is far from over.  House and Senate conferees will have to resolve their differences in their effort to reach agreement on an appropriations bill for the fiscal year that began on October 1.

http://www.populationinstitute.org/newsroom/press/view/42/