Following Trump’s move to reinstate what is formally known as the ‘Mexico City Policy’ but more popularly described as the “global gag rule”, Tørnæs said that Denmark will not waver in its commitment to women’s rights and the belief that women should be allowed to choose what they do with their own bodies.
“Denmark will continue to be a strong international voice for girls and women’s rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights,” she said in a written statement to news agency Ritzau.
“Now more than ever before there is a need for a clear Danish voice, both in specific efforts in the countries and in international negotiations,” she added.
The Danish government is being urged by some to join a Dutch effort to counter the US position by creating an international fund that will finance access to reproductive education, birth control and abortion in developing countries.
“It is completely unacceptable that Trump is pushing this policy through. It will have very significant consequences for many women around the world. That’s why it is a good idea that the Netherlands wants to create a fund,” Holger Nielsen of the Socialist People’s Party said.
As long as you live you'll never see a photograph of 7 women signing legislation about what men can do with their reproductive organs pic.twitter.com/dXjfVjnRiX
— Martin Belam (@MartinBelam) January 23, 2017
The Dutch minister for foreign trade and development, Lilianne Ploumen, announced the Netherlands’ intention on Tuesday and said that she hoped other governments, private business and other actors will “compensate this financial setback as much as possible” according to a report in the Associated Press.
Tørnæs told Ritzau that the government has not made any decisions about supporting the Dutch fund but pointed out that Denmark has increased funding to a number of global women’s groups.
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 22 million women worldwide receive unsafe abortions every year, with the vast majority of those living in developing countries that would be affected by the Trump administration decision.
Marie Stopes International, an NGO that provides contraception and access to safe abortions in 37 countries around the world, estimates that the loss of US funding would cause 6.5 million unintended pregnancies, 2.1 million unsafe abortions and 21,700 maternal deaths during Trump’s first term.
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