Canada’s Liberal government cheered Thursday as President Joe Biden reversed a U.S. policy that denies federal funding to international aid organizations that support abortion.
Biden signed a presidential memorandum to rescind the policy known as the “global gag rule” and to protect and expand access to reproductive health care in the U.S. and around the world.
The policy, born under Ronald Reagan in 1985, prohibits international non-profit groups from receiving U.S. funding if they provide abortion counselling or referrals.
It has been either rescinded by a Democratic president or restored by a Republican five times in the last 28 years. Donald Trump expanded it to include all aid groups, not just those focused on family planning.
“Women’s rights are human rights,” International Development Minister Karina Gould said in a statement that welcomed the decision.
Gould called it a sign of the U.S. joining “the global consensus on the right for women to choose and support programs for women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.”
In 2019, the federal Liberals announced a 10-year plan to spend $1.4 billion a year by 2023 on a “comprehensive approach” to women’s health and rights around the world.
That plan includes $700 million specifically for sexual and reproductive health, including comprehensive abortion care.
“Our government will continue to work with partners in Canada and around the world to dismantle barriers that seek to restrict women, girls and trans people from accessing the health care they have a right to.”
