WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s decision to reinstate the Global Gag Rule:
“Two days after millions marched across the country and on all seven continents to stand up for women’s rights, President Trump clearly hasn’t gotten the message. With the stroke of a pen today, he has endangered access to family planning and comprehensive health care programs for women and children in some of the world’s poorest countries. This harmful policy, known as the Global Gag Rule, has been implemented before and has, contrary to the stated aims of those who support it, coincided with rising abortion rates in some countries most reliant on American family planning aid. It is well known that improved access to family planning services is closely linked to improving health outcomes, addressing poverty and jumpstarting economic growth; this action will not only threaten maternal and child health in developing countries, but work against American interests throughout the world.”
Last Congress, Booker was a cosponsor of the Global Democracy Promotion Act, a bill that would permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule.