By: CENTER FOR HEALTH AND GENDER EQUITY (CHANGE)
Media Alert for March 8, 2017 / Contact: Joanna Kuebler, 202-910-6526
40 U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SPONSOR WHITE HOUSE PROTEST ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY / “RESIST TRUMP. STOP THE GAG” #TrumpGlobalGag #NoAbortionBan
A MARCH AND PROTEST AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP’S GLOBAL GAG RULE
11:30 a.m. March from Freedom Plaza to the White House
12 – 1:15 p.m. Protest and Program in Lafayette Park
Washington, D.C. – In response to President Donald J. Trump’s announcement of his global gag rule – also known as the Mexico City Policy – medical professionals, women’s health and rights advocates, human rights and justice organizations, faith leaders, and more will protest at the White House on March 8, International Women’s Day. Trump’s global gag rule, one of the first actions he took as president, is a massive expansion of a failed policy that prohibits non-U.S. organizations that receive U.S. funding from providing, referring, or even mentioning abortion services.
Trump’s global gag rule applies to all U.S. global health assistance, effectively creating a poisoned pot of funding for programs such as HIV prevention, malaria and tuberculosis, and maternal and child survival.
Trump’s global gag rule will likely contribute to at least 6.5 million unintended pregnancies and more than 2 million unsafe abortions. It will halt the introduction of new, effective contraception options for some of the poorest regions of the world. And, it will have a devastating impact on services for infectious diseases like Zika and Ebola. Additionally, earlier this week, President Trump’s first budget outline proposes a 37 percent cut to the State Department and USAID. These cuts combined with the already deadly global gag rule will kill women around the world.
Protestors representing 40 organizations from across the country and the globe will march from Freedom Plaza along 14th Street NW to Lafayette Park where speakers will share first-hand accounts of what Trump’s global gag rule means for women and people around the world. Organizers will call for happy wheels an end to the global gag rule and for support of the Global HER Act – introduced by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) – which would provide for permanent repeal of the policy.
The protest will feature live testimony, poetry slam and spoken word performances, and music. Speakers include: Serra Sippel, Center for Health and Gender Equity; Carla Eckhardt, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Ellie Smeal, Feminist Majority Foundation; Michelle Batchelor, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda; Esther Vicente, International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPFF/WHR); Sung Yeon Choimorrow, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum; Candace Bond-Theriault, National LGBTQ Task Force; Darakshan Raja, Muslim American Women’s Policy Forum; Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, Physicians for Reproductive Health and more.
WHO: “Resist Trump. Stop the Gag.” A protest organized by: Abortion Care Network; Advocates for Youth; Amnesty International USA; AVAC; Black Women for Wellness, Catholics for Choice, Center for Health and Gender Equity, Feminist Majority Foundation, Global Fund for Women, Global Justice Center, HEALTH GAP Global Access Project, Ibis Reproductive Health; International Planned Parenthood Federation; International Planned Parenthood Federation – Western Hemisphere Region, International Women’s Health Coalition; In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda; Ipas; Muslim American Women’s Policy Forum; Muslims for Progressive Values; NARAL Pro-Choice America; National Abortion Federation; National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum; National Center for Lesbian Rights; National Council of Jewish Women; National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health;
National LGBTQ Task Force, National Organization for Women, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, Orchid Project, Physicians for Reproductive Choice; Population Connection Action Fund; Population Institute; Promundo-US; Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice; Rise and Resist; SisterReach; SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW; UltraViolet; Washington Peace Center; WIN.
WHAT: “Resist Trump. Stop the Gag.” March and protest.
WHERE: March from Freedom Plaza to protest in Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C.
WHEN: 11:30 a.m. march from Freedom Plaza; 12 – 1:15p.m. protests and program in Lafayette Park.
Visit www.genderhealth.org for more information.
