As a leading provider of reproductive health care across the Asia and Pacific regions, MSI Asia Pacific’s team are gravely concerned following Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States.
This administration’s likely attacks on reproductive rights will not only affect women in the United States but will send shockwaves through health services around the world, putting countless women at risk.
Trump’s previous term brought some of the harshest restrictions on US global health funding ever seen, threatening women’s lives and deepening health crises worldwide.
The likely reinstatement of restrictive policies – commonly known as the Global Gag Rule – that cut foreign aid to organisations providing, supporting, or referring patients to abortion care is a cruel blow that will severely impact essential health programs, including HIV treatment and maternal care. Millions of women may now lose access to care that should be their right.
Trump’s restrictions hit hardest in countries where healthcare already faces severe limitations, including in Asian countries like Nepal and Pakistan.
“This is an absolutely disturbing period in history, where sadly policy rollback threatens to take away the rights and dignity of women,” says Tushar Niroula, Country Director of MSI Nepal.
“We have seen the brutal impact of such policies before, where women were left without safe access to safe abortion, even in life-threatening situations.”
In Nepal, MSI clinics were forced to close, and many partners stopped referring women for abortion care—even for rape survivors or women with life-threatening pregnancies.
Niroula notes that US election uncertainty alone can have a tangible impact on women worldwide:
“This time the fear was so widespread that, even before the election, organisations seeking U.S. funding hesitated to partner with MSI because we refused to sign the Global Gag Rule.”
Trump’s presidency represents a clear threat to reproductive rights around the world. Emboldened by Trump’s victory, a rising global anti-choice movement seeks to erase decades of hard-won progress in women’s health.
In this urgent moment, MSI Asia Pacific calls on leaders worldwide to stand united in fighting against movements seeking to control women’s bodies.
“From Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea, we see firsthand the dangers posed by global efforts to roll back abortion rights,” says Bonney Corbin, Director of Advocacy at MSI Asia Pacific. “It’s time for the global reproductive rights movements to mobilise.”
With the upcoming review of the UN Beijing30+ declaration providing a key opportunity to safeguard global sexual and reproductive health and rights, MSI Asia Pacific calls on world leaders to unite in countering anti-choice movements.
“Governments, organisations and communities must work together to challenge the rising tide of misinformation fueling anti-rights agendas,” says Corbin. “Abortion care is and always will be healthcare.”
MSI Asia Pacific’s commitment to women and girls spans 36 countries, where every day we work to ensure they can access contraception, safe abortion, and reproductive health care. Our mission is clear and unwavering: everyone should have the right to make informed decisions about their own body and future.
Our work has never been more essential. In regions facing increasing geographical challenges and resistance from anti-rights groups, MSI sees firsthand the devastation of restricting access to safe abortion.
Emma Clark Gratton
Director, Communications and Fundraising
+61 411 557 529
emma.clarkgratton@msichoices.org.au