The Netherlands set up global safe abortion fund to counter Trump cuts

Eight countries have joined an initiative to raise millions of dollars to replace shortfalls caused by President Donald Trump's ban on U.S.-funded groups around the world providing information on abortion, Sweden's deputy prime minister said.

Isabella Lovin told Reuters a conference would be held on March 2 in Brussels to kick-start the funding initiative to help non-governmental organizations whose family planning projects could be affected.

The Netherlands announced in January the launch of a global fund to help women access abortion services, saying Trump's "global gag rule" would cause a funding shortfall of $600 million over the next four years.

Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Luxemburg, Finland, Canada and Cape Verde have all lent their support, Lovin said.

"(The gag order) could be so dangerous for so many women," said Lovin who posed for a photograph this month with seven other female officials signing an environmental bill, in what was seen a response to a photograph of Trump signing the gag order in the White House with five male advisors.

The global gag rule, which affects U.S. non-governmental organizations working abroad, is one that incoming presidents have used to signal their positions on abortion rights. It was created under U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Trump signed it at a ceremony in the White House on his fourth day in office. Barack Obama lifted the gag rule in 2009 when he took office.

Belgium is preparing to host an international conference focused on raising money for international charities that provide women with access to safe abortions.

Representatives from more than 50 countries are expected to attend the meeting on March 2, alongside development aid ministers from Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Belgium's minister for foreign trade and development, Alexander De Croo, told reporters on Thursday that the conference "will join forces and rally support for all these efforts that make sexual and reproductive health and rights a reality.”
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One of the main goals of the conference is to restore funds to organizations which have been impacted by the US's sudden withdrawal.

A crowdfunding campaign was originally launched by the Dutch government on January 28 to allow private donations to the international fund, Global Fundraising Initiative She Decides.

The Netherlands initially donated 10 million euros to the fund, followed by contributions from Belgium and Denmark to bring the combined total to 30 million euros.

It is estimated that the funding gap created by the US is at least 600 million euros.

A Swedish government spokeswoman said it was too soon to predict how much money the conference could raise.

Donald Trump’s move to block U.S. funding for any organization involved in abortion advice and care has run into opposition in the European Parliament.

A large majority of MEPs on Tuesday backed an amendment calling Trump’s use of the so-called global gag rule a “direct attack on the progress made in the field of women’s and girls’ rights” and for the setting up of an international fund to improve access to abortion services.

The authors of the amendment — Constance Le Grip of the center-right European People’s Party and Marie Arena from the Socialists and Democrats — called on the EU to “significantly increase” funds for “sexual and reproductive health and rights” and to launch an international fund to “finance the access to birth control, legal and safe abortion, using both national as well as EU development funding, in order to fill the financing gap left after the Trump’s administration’s moves.”

The “global gag rule” imposed by Donald Trump, blocking US funds to any organisation involved in abortion advice and care overseas, could impact millions of women and girls, endangering their lives and those of their babies, Bill and Melinda Gates have warned.

The changes are expected to result in funding from the world’s biggest donor to family planning and women’s health programmes in the developing world being slashed. It could, Bill Gates told the Guardian, “create a void that even a foundation like ours can’t fill”.

Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop is being urged to help plug the gap in aid funding caused by Donald Trump's reinstatement of the "global gag rule", which prohibits US dollars from going to non-government organisations that provide abortion services or give advice or referrals on abortions.

Prominent Labor Senator Lisa Singh made the plea on Tuesday night, calling President Trump's move an "attack on women everywhere." It came as billionaire philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates warned that the US aid cuts could "create a void that even a foundation like ours can't fill."

Percent of GDP to Aid

1 Sweden 0.99 %
2 Norway 0.88 %
3 Denmark 0.82 %
4 Netherlands 0.80 %
5 Belgium 0.50 %
6 United Kingdom 0.48 %
7 Ireland 0.43 %
8 Finland 0.43 %
9 Spain 0.43 %
10 Switzerland 0.42 %
11 Austria 0.42 %
12 Germany 0.38 %
13 France 0.38 %
14 Canada 0.32 %
15 Australia 0.29 %
16 New Zealand 0.27 %
17 Portugal 0.25 %
18 Italy 0.21 %
19 Greece 0.20 %
20 Japan 0.20 %
21 United States 0.19 %

Your alternate fact was pointed out to be false. Do you not possess the honesty necessary to acknowledge that?

Who did you vote for for president, again?