The return of Trump and the anti-abortion 'global gag rule': here's what we can do

Trump is back in the oval office and one of his first presidential actions was to bring back the global gag rule.

For MSI, this means losing $14 million of US government funding because we refuse to meet their conditions to stop providing or advocating for abortion. Abortion access is not only central to our mission of providing comprehensive reproductive healthcare, it's a non-negotiable for human rights and gender equality. We will always provide and protect abortion services.

This policy is devastating for the global health sector and for women and girls everywhere, but we're prepared for this moment. We're ready to convene with our partners in global health to protect healthcare access, and to be bolder than ever in our campaigning for abortion.

Read on to see our new campaign responding to Trump's gag rule, and learn how we can navigate this harmful policy.

Understanding the global impacts

The repercussions of the global gag rule are complex and felt around the world. New York Times Pulitzer-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof gives a must-read account of this impact in his recent column: 'Don’t the Lives of Women and Girls Matter?'. He visited MSI's programme in Madagascar to learn how Trump's policies will affect women and girls in rural communities in Africa.

"All this will be hotly debated by men in suits in Washington, but it will play out in the lives of exhausted women in places like Madagascar."

"Thank goodness for groups like the U.N. Population Fund and MSI, for taking on reproductive health in a way that isn’t performative or ideological but actually saves lives."

We can adapt and be resilient

As the global gag rule has been reinstated by every Republican US president since Ronald Reagan, the global health community has been through this before – and we can be resilient to it again.

Beth Schlachter, MSI's Senior Director of US External Relations, shares ways we can mitigate harm and continue to build our pro-choice movement in a recent Devex article.

"Make no mistake, this policy aims to gag and unravel the pro-choice movement across the globe – but it will not succeed."

MSI's new campaign: Choose Choice. Now.

Our new campaign throws into sharp focus the silencing and devastating effects of the global gag rule. With Trump's distinctive signature etched over the lips of women to sew their mouths shut, this visual powerfully conveys that by signing the global gag rule, Trump is signing away women’s rights, voices and lives.

The campaign helps people to understand the worldwide impact of Trump's policies. It also asks people to donate to protect women's access to reproductive healthcare.

Please join us to #ChooseChoiceNow by amplifying the campaign across LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram. Together we can send the Trump administration a strong message: we won't be silenced and we won't back down.

A lot remains uncertain about how the Trump administration's policies will unravel. But our solidarity and resilience in the face of anti-choice attacks is one thing we can be sure of.

We know many of you reading this today share our unwavering commitment to protect women's reproductive choices and will join us in the fight ahead. Thank you for choosing choice.