"The defeat of the gag rule is a clear sign of progress for women around the world, and we applaud those in the Administration and Congress who have been working so hard to eliminate it. However, it does not go far enough in repairing the damage inflicted on free speech, democratic priniciples, and women's reproductive health and rights abroad. And the additional penalty of witholding U.S. funding on family planning funds until February 2001 hurts women who need critical services.

"The costs of the gag rule have been enormous to women's health and democracy. By censoring speech, the U.S. government has impeded the ability of U.S.-based organizations like the Center for Reproductive Rights from accomplishing our mission of advocating for legal protection of reproductive rights worldwide. Due to the imposition of the gag rule on foreign aid in last year's bill, approximately 430 organizations in more than 50 nations worldwide "agreed" that they would not perform abortions or speak about abortion law reform with their own non-U.S. funds. The gagged groups cannot, even with Center for Reproductive Rights money, speak up to reform their laws to allow abortions to save dying women.

"I have heard first-hand from our staff lawyers traveling to gagged countries that because of the gag rule, private organizations have stopped doing legal - even life-saving - abortions in their countries. This U.S. legislation is killing women and killing democracy.

"For decades, anti-family planning politicians have used funding for health care to launch an annual attack on women's reproductive rights. This agreement, although a positive step forward, does not guarantee that the global gag rule is gone for good. It may well be revived next year, either by an anti-family planning administration - as under former presidents Reagan and Bush - or by an anti-family planning Congress.

"The Center for Reproductive Rights encourages Congress and the Administration to continue and strengthen their support for international family planning programs and women's reproductive rights around the world."

For more information on the global gag rule, see the Center for Reproductive Right's briefing paper The Bush Global Gag Rule: A Violation of International Human Rights (PDF).