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Global Democracy Promotion Act

The Global Democracy Promotion Act is an attempt to overturn the Global Gag Rule, a policy decision that disqualifies overseas family planning organizations from receiving U.S. family planning funds if they, with their own money, lobby to change abortion laws or provide legal abortion services in their countries. If passed, the Global Democracy Promotion Act would help ensure that women and families around the world have access to crucial family planning education and services that enable them to choose the size and spacing of their families, ultimately leading to healthier and smaller families and reducing stress on the planet's natural resources.

The Global Democracy Promotion Act is a legislative response to overturn the Global Gag Rule, a policy decision that is undemocratic and un-American. Only two days after his inauguration in 2001, President Bush signed an executive order to reinstate the global gag rule - limiting US support for overseas family planning programs. The Global Democracy Promotion Act would ensure that the United States cannot impose standards on organizations outside its borders that it would not stand for imposing within its borders. The legislation would allow funding for organizations that provide services that are legal in their own country and also legal in ours. The bill will end the punishment of health care providers that observe the same standards of medical ethics and seek the same freedom of speech that apply in the United States. Passage of the Global Democracy Promotion Act would help ensure that women and families around the world have access to crucial family planning education and services that enable them to choose the size and spacing of their families, ultimately leading to healthier and smaller families and reducing stress on the planet's natural resources.