The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is concerned by the grave implications that a second Trump Presidency – with full backing from a Republican majority in Congress – poses to health and human rights in the U.S. and across the world. Anticipated rollbacks on reproductive rights, gender and sexuality, outlined within the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 agenda, risk the undermining and reversal of hard-won gains for the rights of women, LGBTQI+ people and marginalised communities worldwide.
This election saw a ‘red sweep’ take place across the U.S., with Trump securing the Presidency and the Republican Party winning majorities in both the House and Senate. This veritable ‘triple-threat’ arrangement will bring with it significant ramifications for the fate of global health, sexual and reproductive health and rights and human rights worldwide, with the potential to change the face of democracy as we know it.
When compared to 2016, this time around there will likely be few in positions of power to push back against detrimental and extremist policies within the administration itself. Many of the more moderate political appointees and Whitehouse staffers under Trump’s first term are now largely being replaced by far-right MAGA loyalists. At the same time, the Republican Party has also shifted in its position on abortion and contraception since 2016 – now aligning more closely with Trump’s views.
Likewise, the U.S. Supreme Court is now held up by a conservative majority, following the appointment of justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett during President Trump’s first term. The implications of this are already being felt, resulting in what has been described as “fundamental shifts in the nation’s system of checks and balances among the three branches of government and the ability…to ensure the president complies with the law”. The combination of these factors is unprecedented. With reduced power from the Democrats in Congress, this will aid the Trump Administration to enact their hardline legislative and policy agenda.
Domestically in the U.S., Trump, with backing from a Republican majority in Congress, is expected to scale up efforts to enact a federal abortion ban and re-instate the domestic gag rule. This gag rule prohibits providers under the federally funded ‘Title X’ family planning program from referring patients for abortion care and placing extensive requirements on providers to perform abortion care. IPPF’s U.S. Member Association, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), are also set to face further attacks. The Trump Administration will likely encourage U.S. states to render Planned Parenthood’s clinics ineligible to receive reimbursements through Medicaid and other publicly funded programs for the provision of contraception, STI care, and cancer screenings. In the face of these challenges, PPFA along with its international arm, Planned Parenthood Global, remain unwavering in their mission to protect and expand sexual and reproductive health and rights, and will play a critical role in opposing this harmful agenda at every step of the way.
On the global stage, Trump’s win takes place within an increasingly restrictive legislative and policy environment for sexual and reproductive rights around the world, furthered by the growing influence of a global anti-rights movement to which Trump and his allies are closely tied. Comprising a diverse range of actors, including politically conservative think tanks, lobbyists, along with authoritarian and conservative governments, this movement seeks to erode human rights through highly coordinated and well-resourced efforts in national and global arenas, threatening to reverse decades of progress.
With this context in mind, IPPF anticipates the following global impacts as we move into 2025:
- The Mexico City Policy/ Global Gag Rule will be re-instated and expanded vastly beyond global health alone.
- U.S. government funding support to UNFPA and the World Health Organization will likely get cut or completely defunded.
- A concerted effort to push the Geneva Consensus Declaration in the UN will occur, along with retreating and backsliding on globally agreed international human rights laws and standards.
- The U.S. will likely withdraw from climate commitments.
- The U.S. will likely rescind support and protections for LGBTQI+ rights globally, particularly transgender people.
- The U.S. will likely roll back support for HIV programming globally.
- There will likely be major reductions and/or shifts in the U.S. government’s humanitarian assistance.
- The Trump Administration is expected to enact anti-gender framing across U.S. foreign policy.
Regardless of what unfolds over the next four years, IPPF, in collaboration with PPFA and other Member Associations and partners worldwide spanning the SRHR, LGBTQI+, HIV and feminist movements, remains undeterred. We will strengthen our efforts in the face of increasing threats to sexual and reproductive rights, human rights and democracy at large. We will call out injustices where we see them and remain steadfast in our commitment to support the most marginalised and excluded, including those who will be impacted by the incoming Trump Administration’s foreign policy actions.
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