Lifeline for women

Research shows that restricting access to abortion services doesn’t work.

In 2017, following the Trump administration’s reinstatement of the anti-abortion ‘Mexico City Policy’ or the 'global gag rule', Nepal’s important development partner, the United States Agency for International Development, discontinued funding to foreign non-governmental organisations that provided abortion services or counselling. According to MSI Reproductive Choices, formerly Marie Stopes International, the policy had consequences for women, especially in the developing countries where the policy led to closures of life-saving services, a record rise in unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions.