HR 4465

Summary: The bill would ensure that the United States cannot impose standards on organizations outside its borders that it would not stand for imposing within its borders. The legislation would allow funding for organizations that provide services that are legal in their own country and also legal in ours. The bill will end the punishment of health care providers that observe the same standards of medical ethics and seek the same freedom of speech that apply in the United States.

What You Should Know: The Global Gag Rule, a Reagan-era policy reinstated by President Bush on January 22, 2001, requires that in exchange for U.S. assistance for family planning services, foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) receiving money through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) must withhold information from women about the option of legal abortion and where to obtain safe abortion services—even if they use only their own funds to do so. Additionally, the groups cannot engage in any public debate or disseminate any information regarding the health hazards of unsafe abortion, express support for any existing laws that support safe abortion, or provide legal abortion services with non-U.S. funding. This policy stifles free speech and prevents medical professionals from offering the full range of legal, medically acceptable options to women. It is contrary to U.S. law and would be held unconstitutional if imposed on U.S.-based organizations. The Administration says that this policy prevents US taxpayer funds from being used to perform abortions, but a statutory provision is in place prohibiting such expenditures.

Primary Sponsor(s): Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY)

Introduction Date: 12/7/2005

Last Major Action:
12/7/2005. Referred to the House Committee on International Relations.