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Norway has pledged $10 million to combat Trump’s global anti-abortion initiative.
Since Donald Trump began president, he signed a record number of executive orders on a number of issues, most regarding domestic policies, and a few controversial decisions affecting foreign policy. One such decision that attracted the criticism of many Health organizations is to ban funding from American non-governmental organization which supports a woman’s right to an abortion in other countries.
In response, other countries have decided to supplement these NGOs with funds. Norway is the latest country to join the campaign by pledging $10 million to combat the effects of Trump’s anti-abortion initiative.
The pro-abortion effort was launched by the government of Netherlands through the She Decides campaign, as a way to make up for the NGOs’ lost funds. The campaign was developed by the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Lilianne Ploumen, which stated that they need to compensate the financial blow suffered by organizations who promote the right of women to control their own bodies.
Since it was launch, the She Decides campaign was joined by countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland, Belgium, and Canada. Now, the Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, confirmed that the country will pledge $10 million to support family planning and safe abortion.
More than $600 million in funding has been lost by NGOs due to Trump’s anti-abortion initiative. However, The She Decides Campaign has only managed to raise $40 million, while Ploumen has called on a larger number of countries to join the campaign.
If you’re not familiar with the anti-abortion initiative signed by Trump, you should know that it revives an old rule developed by Ronald Reagan in 1984, which was then revoked by Bill Clinton in 1993. It was once again reinstated in 2001 by G.W. Bush and revoked once more by Barack Obama.
The rule is more commonly known as the global gag rule or the Mexico City Policy. A WHO 2011 study found that the rule led to an increase in unwanted pregnancies as well as unsafe abortions in countries subject to the rule.
What do you think about the newly reinstated anti-abortion initiative? On which side of the debate are you on regarding abortions?
Image source: Wikipedia
