We saw this coming. In January when Trump first took office as an anti-choice president, he immediately re-instated the Global Gag Rule. We knew there was more to it and yesterday with his newest policy, “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance,” Trump confirmed that he has expanded these anti-abortion restrictions to impact $8.8 billion in global health assistance. This expansion is unprecedented.
We are ready. We are fighting back.
We are not in the same place we were when the Gag Rule was instated by Reagan or Bush. We will not let Trump take us backward. We can and do demand radical change against policies that are deadly to women and do no respect the lives of women.
In 1945, on the ninth day of testimony at the Nuremberg Trials, the prosecutors introduced a damning piece of evidence - a film that showed the gas chambers at Dachau. Nineteen Nazi war criminals were convicted, and the Nuremberg Trials helped establish an international system of criminal law that included the adoption of the Genocide Convention.
Over one month ago Donald Trump reinstated and expanded the Global Gag Rule. As organizations around the world wait for official guidelines on what the expansion means, GJC and other women's rights groups are already working hard to combat these deadly restrictions on women's healthcare.
Women have been the leaders of successful resistance movements around the world. From the women of Liberia's mass action for peace, to mothers in Argentina and women's groups in Burma, women's rights activists are often the first to speak out against the rise of extremism.
This week the courts are standing up to Trump, proving once again that the law can stop tyranny in its tracks.
Last week we saw pictures of men signing executive orders that negatively impacted the lives of women, minorities and vulnerable populations in the United States and around the world.
After World War II, there was a human rights revolution that resulted in strong treaties and human rights laws. These laws are underscored by the recognition that there are rights so fundamental that they transcend borders and individual policies.
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