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Restrictions on International Family Planning New Restrictions on International Family Planning Organizations
Under this new law, family planning agencies abroad must certify to the U.S. government what they do with non-U.S. government funds. IN accordance with the Global Gag Rule, USAID now has the right to demand that international family planning agencies, contractors, and sub-contractors that receive U.S. funding must certify that they neither provide abortion services nor lobby to change abortion laws in their own countries. This rule applies even where agencies provide these services with their own money in countries where abortion is legal. The Global Gag Rule is not a restriction on abortion. Spending U.S. money on abortion here or abroad has been illegal since 1973. Instead, it prohibits international family planning organizations receiving U.S. funds from performing, or even speaking about, abortion, even when it is allowed under the laws of that country. Clinton was able to waive the Gag Rule under the terms of the compromise he agreed to with the Congressional leadership. The waiver resulted in a cut of $12.5 million to the international family planning assistance budget. It is estimated that a $12.5 million cut in the family planning services budget could result in the following consequences:
If a family planning agency abroad is unable or unwilling to certify to the U.S. government what it does with its non-U.S. funds, the agency’s name will be put on a black list. That list will be made available to Congress. If the budgets of the agencies on that list exceed $15 million, one or more could be cut. This procedure will effect more than one thousand organizations large and small. In addition, it will have the greatest impact on international organizations that work in the world’s poorest countries. The restrictions will effect organizations working in developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia because they apply to funding from USAID’s Development Assistance Account. Family planning agencies working in Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (NIS) are exempt from these restrictions as their funding is drawn from a different account. USAID is now laboring under a costly and administratively burdensome requirement. Money that should be spent on programs overseas is now tied up in trying to comply with Congress’ new demands. USAID Cooperating Agencies and Field Missions must now issue certification forms and provide guidance as to what certification means to the numerous NGOs with which they work. Grant agreements incorporating the new law must be written and translated into French and Spanish for family planning agencies abroad. Agencies, contractors and sub-contractors must certify their compliance with the Global Gag Rule before they will receive USAID disbursements. If these agencies do not certify, they will receive their grant disbursements only when USAID completes its tally and calculates that the $15 million cap has not been reached. If the cap is met, USAID must then decide which agencies’ budgets will be cut. It is possible that the $15 million cap will be exceeded. International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) – London, which receives $5.8 million, and World Health Organization (WHO), which receives $2.5 million from USAID, could decide not to certify. If they do, their names go on the list. Their budgets alone account for more than one-half of the allotted cap. International family planning agencies, unsure of the implications of the new restrictions are beginning to cut back on services. Effective and safe programs of comprehensive reproductive health care are being scaled down as agencies try to assess the impact of the new law and wait for needed funding pending certification. As a result, maternal and infant deaths that would have been averted will not be spared and the numbers of unplanned pregnancies will increase. The global gag rule restrictions are an attack on free speech and threaten the lives of women everywhere. Heart to Heart: Connecting Women and the Environment, An activist's book of postcards Sierra Club’s Global Population Stabilization Program is in the process of producing a new book of postcards that functions as an activist tool. Featuring pictures and stories from Sierra Club book Women in the Material World, the postcard book is entitled "Heart to Heart" and contains ten 5" x 8" full color postcards. Heart to Heart will be available for wide distribution after its release on International Women’s Day, March 8th, 2000. Contact Carol Schlitt for copies or more information at carol.schlitt@sierraclub.org. Legislative Update The 106th Congress has adjourned for 1999. Below is a summary of how all population-related legislation faired in 1999. Our thanks to Heather Smith of ZPG who wrote much of this update. For more information please contact Carol Schlitt at carol.schlitt@sierraclub.org.
1. International Family Planning Sacrificed in New Budget Deal President Clinton and Congressional leaders brokered a last minute budget deal that threatens to significantly weaken family planning efforts overseas. Zealous opponents of family planning in Congress were successful in linking payment of the U.S. debt to the United Nations to the imposition of the Global Gag Rule -- a policy that limits what family planning providers can do or say with private funds. The new policy was signed into law on November 29 as part of a larger omnibus spending measure (H.R. 3194). The Omnibus measure includes funding for the five spending bills that had yet been approved: Interior, Foreign Operations, Commerce-Justice-State, District of Columbia and Labor-HHS-Education bills. Under current law, it is already illegal to use U.S. funds to either provide abortions or to lobby on the issue of abortion. The Global Gag Rule takes the law a step further and is much more intrusive. It cuts off U.S. funds to international family planning groups that provide legal abortions or talk openly about their country's abortion laws with their own private money. It dictates to other organizations in other countries what they can and cannot do with their own funds and creates a chilling effect on any organization that wants to discuss of provide legal abortion services in their own country. The budget agreement did allow the President some limited authority to waive these harsh restrictions, and he signed the waiver on the same day he signed the bill. By doing so, he made only a total of $15 million available to organizations that provide legal abortions or participate in public debates on abortion policy. In other words, the waiver applies only to 4% of the total funds for family planning, the rest is still subject to the provisions of the global gag rule. In addition exercising the waiver comes at a high price - a 3% or $12.5 million cut in the $385 million allocated for international family planning. Family planning organizations predict that the new policy could deny nearly 500,000 women in developing countries access to family planning and reproductive health services, resulting in more than 250,000 unintended pregnancies and 100,000 additional abortions. The new restrictions may also result in nearly 10,000 more maternal and infant deaths. Aside from the funding issues, the incorporation of the Global Gag Rule is significant because it turns this restrictive policy into statutory law. Adoption of this policy now means that U.S. law acts to stifle, rather than encourage, free speech and democratic participation. The fact that this policy has been written into law will make it harder to undo. It virtually guarantees another long battle over this issue again next year. According to Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), "Once this kind of legislative language is adopted, it is very hard, if not impossible, to remove." 2. Legislation to Require Parental Consent for Family Planning Introduced Dangerous new legislation has been recently introduced that could jeopardize minor's access to confidential family planning and reproductive health services. The legislation, "the States' and Parental Rights Improvement Act" (H.R. 3302), was introduced by Rep. Kevin Brady (D-TX) and would allow states that have parental consent or notification laws regarding contraceptives to preempt federal laws on this issue. Passage of the Brady legislation could reverse recent declines in adolescent pregnancy and abortion that have been attributed to increased use of contraception. It would harm adolescent health by increasing unintended pregnancies, abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases. Most troubling is that this legislation could jeopardize teen's access to Title X funded family planning clinics. The Title X program, a federal program, guarantees minors confidential access to contraceptives and reproductive health services. The bill has already garnered 38 cosponsors including congressional leaders such as House Majority Whip Tom Delay (R-TX) and Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX). There is no word yet when this bill may go to the floor nor on the introduction of a companion bill in the Senate. Rep. Brady has indicated that he may offer the legislation as an amendment to a "must pass" spending bill during budget debate next year. 3. Senate Supports Roe v. Wade In the waning weeks of the first session of the 106th Congress, the Senate narrowly voted 51 to 48 in favor of a resolution offered by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) expressing support for the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The Harkin vote marked the first time Congress has ever taken a vote to endorse the historic Roe v. Wade decision. In Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that a woman has a constitutionally protected right, in consultation with her physician, to terminate a pregnancy free of state interference or intrusion, at least in the early stages of pregnancy. This was loosely defined as the first trimester of gestation. In the second trimester or more specifically, prior to viability of the fetus, the Court ruled that states could impose those regulations that were reasonably related to the protection of the woman's health. The vote came in the midst of Senate debate over "the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act" (S. 1692). S. 1692, which was ultimately adopted, would ban an abortion procedure usually performed late in a pregnancy when either the mother's health would be put in jeopardy by carrying the pregnancy to term, or when the fetus suffers from severe abnormalities. President Clinton has stated he would veto the abortion ban bill on the grounds that it does not provide exceptions for the health of the mother. Supporters have said that if the president veto's the legislation they will attempt a veto override close to the time for the presidential and congressional elections. 4. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) United Nations Population Fund – An important victory on the international family planning front was that the spending bill now includes a $25 million contribution for the United Nations Population Fund with restrictions on the use of this money in China. Fiscal year 1999 funding for UNFPA was eliminated, so this year's allocation represents a restoration of funding. 5. Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) Contraceptive Coverage - New language was added allowing pharmacists, nurses and other health care professionals to opt out of providing contraceptives to federal employees who are enrolled in the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP). A provision has already been signed into law earlier this year as part of the Treasury-Postal bill that requires all health plans administered under the FEHBP to include coverage for prescription contraceptives. This new opt-out clause was slipped into the Omnibus bill by anti-family planning supporters despite its defeat on the House floor. 6. Title X The Title X domestic family planning program received $238.9 million in funding ----- up from $214.9 million last year. This $24 million increase represents a 10% boost in funding for the program and the largest increase in two decades. 7. The Equality in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act (EPICC) The Equality in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act (EPICC) is similar to FEHB but would apply to all insurance companies, not just those serving federal employees. It would require insurance plans that offer prescription drug coverage to also cover prescription contraceptive drugs and devices. Similarly, the measure would require that health plans offering coverage for outpatient medical services also provide coverage for outpatient contraceptive services. EPICC would make contraceptives more affordable and accessible for all Americans, begin to bring parity to health care costs for men and women, improve women’s and children’s health, and protect the environment. EPICC (S.1200 and H.R. 2120) has been introduced in both houses of Congress. It is sponsored by Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Harry Reid (D-NV) in the Senate and Jim Greenwood (R-PA) and Nita Lowey (D-NY) in the House. 8. Microcredit As part of our work on women's empowerment, the Sierra Club supports the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act. This piece of legislation would request $90 million in funds for international micro-credit programs for low-income women in the developing world. Micro-credit programs allow low-income women to borrow small amounts of money at low interest rates to enable poor women to start their own businesses. These programs have a 90% repayment rate. As women earn income they also gain self-esteem and more bargaining power economically and with regards to the reproductive rights. To submit articles, updates or reports about your committee for the Population Report, contact: population@sierraclub.org Photo courtesy Philip Greenspun Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
At the close of the last Congress, a policy became law that threatens the health of women and the planet. Cleverly characterized as a mere political compromise, minimized by the media, and hailed as a victory that allowed us to pay our UN arrears, the Global Gag Rule was written into law. This law significantly undermines the ability of international family planning organizations to provide family planning and reproductive health services.