When Republican presidents take power in the United States, women around the world die at higher rates during pregnancy and childbirth, according to a new peer-reviewed study.
Research published in BMJ Global Health found that global family planning aid drops sharply under Republican administrations and surges by 48% when Democrats take over, the Guardian reported Wednesday.
For countries heavily dependent on U.S. aid, the consequences are dire. Funding cuts correlate with an 11% increase in maternal deaths — roughly 45 additional deaths for every 100,000 live births.
The pattern traces to Ronald Reagan’s 1985 global gag rule, which blocks federal funding for any overseas organization that provides, advises, or advocates for abortion services. The cyclical on-off application of the rule — imposed by Republican presidents, lifted by Democrats — has driven maternal mortality up by 16% in Latin America, 15% in Asia, and 7% in Africa, even as overall maternal mortality has declined worldwide.
Under Trump, the policy has been supercharged.
His administration has dismantled USAID and terminated more than 90% of its family planning and reproductive health awards under a policy called “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance.”
The study’s authors noted the bitter irony in that name.
“These results underscore the vulnerability of health systems to abrupt shifts in donor policy and highlight the importance of stable international support for reproductive health services,” they wrote.
“Although the policy named Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance under the Trump administration aims to protect life, our findings instead suggest higher rates of maternal deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth.”
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