{"id":9195,"date":"2017-05-19T18:26:56","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T18:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=9195"},"modified":"2017-05-19T18:28:53","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T18:28:53","slug":"trumps-global-gag-order-5-questions-answered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/trumps-global-gag-order-5-questions-answered\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s global gag order: 5 questions answered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maureen Miller<\/a>, Columbia University Medical Center<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order that media reports say could obstruct nearly US$8.8 billion the U.S. spends annually to fight deadly diseases abroad<\/a>. Here, Maureen Miller, a Columbia University Medical Center professor and infectious disease epidemiologist with training in medical anthropology, answers five questions about this move, including what it has to do with abortion.<\/em> \"The<\/p>\n

1. What\u2019s at stake?<\/h2>\n

Three of the biggest killers in the developing world are AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Currently 36.7 million people are living with HIV\/AIDS<\/a>, a third of the world\u2019s population is infected with tuberculosis<\/a> and more than one million people die from malaria<\/a> each year.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s executive order endangers $6.8 billion in annual funding for the President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief<\/a>. Former President George W. Bush created this initiative, known as PEPFAR, to help save the lives of people suffering from HIV\/AIDS. <\/p>\n

The U.S. put $1.35 billion<\/a> of that money into the the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria last year. This independent organization is the largest entity dedicated to preventing and treating these diseases. The U.S., its top donor, covers half the Global Fund\u2019s operating costs<\/a>, but that represents only a quarter of what our nation spends to fight these diseases internationally. Some $600 million in family planning aid is affected, as is other spending<\/a> slated for global health. <\/p>\n

Although I follow these issues closely, I have been unable to find a complete breakdown of the widely reported $8.8 billion affected<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Women compose 51 percent of the people living with HIV\/AIDS<\/a> worldwide. Since 60 percent of the people with the virus in sub-Saharan Africa are women, they may bear the brunt of this move. <\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n Eunice Adhiambo, an HIV-positive Kenyan woman, and her HIV-negative daughter Jyll.<\/span>
\n Riccardo Gangale\/USAID Kenya<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. How does the US support global efforts to fight and treat HIV\/AIDS?<\/h2>\n

PEPFAR, primarily implemented through USAID, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasizes improving the health of women, newborns and children. Among its biggest achievements has been integrating AIDS relief and reproductive health services, since HIV is transmitted primarily through unprotected sex. <\/p>\n

Until now, PEPFAR has commanded broad bipartisan support, perhaps due to its well-documented success. For the first time since the HIV\/AIDS epidemic began in the 1980s, new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa \u2013 which accounts for almost two-thirds<\/a> of all people living with HIV\/AIDS \u2013 are decreasing<\/a>. Former President Bush, who traveled to Botswana and Namibia<\/a> in April, still champions the program.<\/p>\n

3. How is global health aid connected to abortion?<\/h2>\n

An estimated 303,000 women<\/a>, primarily in developing countries, die yearly from complications due to pregnancy, childbirth and abortion, and those are the leading causes of death<\/a> among adolescent girls globally. Approximately one-third of maternal deaths could be prevented if all women had access to effective contraception.<\/p>\n

The U.S. is the world\u2019s largest supporter<\/a> of family planning and reproductive health services. It is also one of the largest purchasers and distributors of contraceptives. No federal funds have paid for abortions<\/a>, however, since 1973 \u2013 either internationally or at home. All nongovernmental organizations receiving U.S. support must agree to this policy.<\/p>\n

In 1984, the Reagan administration expanded those restrictions by denying U.S. family-planning money to entities that performed abortions or promoted the practice. Subsequent Democratic presidents lifted this restriction, known either as the \u201cMexico City policy<\/a>\u201d or the \u201cglobal gag rule,\u201d while Republican presidents reinstated it.<\/p>\n

Trump framed his new order as \u201cProtecting Life in Global Health Assistance<\/a>,\u201d but it\u2019s unlikely to reduce the number of abortions performed in poor countries. A 2011 study by Stanford University researchers<\/a> found that abortion rates in sub-Saharan African countries rose when the standard restrictions were in force from 2001 to 2008. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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