The Trump administration took the policy much further. Just a few months after reinstating the policy in January 2017, the administration expanded the restrictions to apply to all US-funded global health assistance, not only organizations involved in family planning.
The massive expansion of the policy shocked the global public health community and has affected frontline health care workers around the world providing a whole range of services—including mother and child health care, nutrition programs, malaria treatment, and tuberculosis and HIV care.
This month the Trump administration proposed a new rule that would expand the reach of the policy even more.
Who will be affected by the proposed expansion of this policy?
The proposed rule would cover all contracts and subcontracts funded partially or wholly with US global health assistance. Essentially, every organization that has a US contract.
For example, if an organization that receives US funding subcontracts some work to another organization, the policy will extend to that other organization. Often these organizations are smaller, local organizations that don’t have the capacity to navigate additional hurdles. It just means more red tape and more restrictions limiting medical care for people in need.