Domestic Gag Rule would limit healthcare access beyond abortion

Yesterday, the Trump administration released a draft of an appalling policy that could effectively limit access and degrade the quality of reproductive health services for millions of individuals across the United States. As the highest elected public servant in the United States, the president is tasked with improving access to health services and securing healthy lives for all. Instead, Trump and his administration continue to shirk their responsibilities to the people, instead enacting vindictive policies that purposefully hinder access to a full range of reproductive health services. This policy not only has implications for abortion access, but would also impact community health centers, Planned Parenthoods, and other health clinics, especially in rural areas where people rely on a wide range of services being offered, even beyond reproductive needs.

When a person goes to get medical care and advice, they count on receiving complete medical information from their providers. The U.S. government is supposed to be committed to freedom of speech and the pursuit of health and happiness for all — maliciously obstructing access to information is in direct contradiction of these values. We will not accept such sheer hypocrisy, such abandonment of the values this nation purports to hold.

Melissa Torres-Montoya, Policy Director at the National Network of Abortion Funds comments:

“The Trump administration has proved once again that playing politics in the most vengeful manner possible is far more important to this administration than the health and well being of individuals in this country. A domestic gag rule would be a cruel blow against those of us who rely on community health centers and family planning clinics and would restrict access to essential medical information. Enacting such a policy would be a massive detriment to our ability to access essential health care services, including abortion. It’s hugely problematic that during a health care visit patients might not have access to information on all legal health care options. Anything that diminishes our ability to access health care does the most damage to people who can least afford it — this lack of protection and care is becoming a pattern that needs to end immediately.”