by Ann Hwang

About the author: At the time this viewpoint was written, Ann Hwang was a medical student at the University of California, San Francisco.

The “global gag rule” is stifling debate about reproductive health. It’s going to force a lot of poor women in developing countries to bear children they don’t want. It’s likely to increase (not decrease) the number of “coat hanger” abortions. And it’s probably going to get a lot of women killed, which will in turn boost death rates among the children they leave behind. So why exactly is it

U.S. policy? The desire to control fertility may be nearly as ancient and universal as sexual desire itself. Every...