President Bush's reinstatement of the so-called "Mexico City Policy," announced January 22, will increase the suffering of millions of women worldwide, by reducing their access to modern contraceptive methods and other critical reproductive health care.

This US government policy disqualifies foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from receiving US family planning funding if they provide counseling on abortion, provide safe legal abortion services except in very narrow circumstances, or participate in political debate surrounding abortion. The result of the policy will be more unintended pregnancies, more unsafe abortions, and more maternal and child deaths.

Ipas vehemently opposes this harmful policy. Furthermore, Ipas cannot and will not be a party to imposing unethical restrictions on local organizations working legally in their own countries to address women's reproductive health needs.

Every year, more than 80 million women experience unwanted pregnancies. About 20 million women, mostly in the world's poorest countries, are so desperate that they risk their lives to have abortions performed under unsafe conditions. Nearly 55,000 unsafe abortions occur every day, about 38 every minute.

Countless people work hard every day to try to reduce the deaths, injuries and misery caused by unsafe abortion. Reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy - also known as the 'global gag rule' - will significantly hinder the efforts of all these dedicated people. In order to receive family planning financial or technical assistance through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), foreign NGOs now must agree to give up their rights to provide counseling; perform safe legal abortions other than in cases of rape, incest or danger to the life of the woman; or advocate for legal reform - even with their own funds.

No US international family planning funds have been used to support or promote abortion since 1973, but this policy goes much further. Under its restrictions:

• A 19-year old African woman who is HIV-positive, with an unintended pregnancy, could not be counseled about options to terminate her pregnancy;
• An NGO family planning and health facility in Peru could not provide an abortion to a mother with 10 children and heart disease, even though abortion is legally permitted in Peru when a woman's health is threatened;
• A USAID-assisted NGO in Nepal could not support a bill in parliament to decriminalize abortion and free hundreds of women now imprisoned in Nepal because they have had abortions; and

• A medical association in Kenya, a country where more than one out of every five maternal deaths is due to botched abortions, could not advocate reform of the Kenyan law to enable women to obtain safe abortions.

NGOs that choose not to abide by the Mexico City Policy's restrictions - which are contrary to the fundamental American value of free speech - will suffer a loss in funding that will dramatically reduce their ability to provide family planning counseling and services. That reduction in services will inevitably lead to an increase in unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. Organizations that accept the restrictions in order to retain US funding will necessarily compromise medical ethics by withholding much-needed information and services from the women they serve.

By reinstating this cruel, extremist policy, the Bush administration stands in opposition to principles embraced by the international community. At a Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1999, governments including the United States agreed that, "in circumstances where abortion is not against the law, health systems should train and equip health-service providers and should take other measures to ensure that such abortion is safe and accessible." In 97 countries that are home to three-quarters of the world's population, abortion is legally permitted in circumstances broader than those allowed under the Mexico City Policy.

Ipas, a US-based nonprofit organization, works internationally with a wide range of partners to improve women's health. Ipas does not provide services directly but, through training and other activities, helps local health-care providers reach more women with important reproductive health services, including safe abortion care. We believe women have the right to the best health care possible and to make their own reproductive decisions.

Therefore, Ipas will withdraw from the PRIME Project, a USAID-funded five-year worldwide program led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to train nurses, midwives and other primary health-care providers in family planning and related services. Ipas, which supported activities under the PRIME Project to improve treatment of abortion complications, remains committed to expanding postabortion care with other resources and under conditions that do not compromise women's or health-care providers' rights.

Our decision to withdraw from the PRIME Project reflects our strong belief that:

• no health care provider should be prevented from giving comprehensive information or services to women;
• no organization should be told what to do with private funds;
• no individual or nongovernmental organization should lose the right to freedom of speech; and
• most importantly, no woman should have to risk her life or health to end an unwanted pregnancy.

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For more information, contact media@ipas.org