A Planned Parenthood health clinic in New York on May 18. (Justin Lane/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

The May 21 editorial “A blow to low-income women” rightfully condemned the “domestic gag rule,” the Trump administration’s latest attempt to defund Planned Parenthood under the guise of improving women’s health. It’s ridiculous; gag rules strip women of their right to the full range of health-care options.  

Gag rules are not a new tactic in the anti-choice fight to strip rights from women. Last year, President Trump imposed his “global gag rule,” which prevents foreign organizations that receive U.S. aid from even mentioning abortion. Mr. Trump’s global gag rule has led clinics around the world to close, leaving vulnerable women to seek back-alley abortions. Maternal mortality rates are likely set to skyrocket, and the Trump administration is so pleased that it wants a gag rule stateside.

Gag rules are designed to hurt women, and they do so with devastating efficiency. The Trump administration won’t stop until women from Kenya to Kansas are left without reproductive rights.

Brian Dixon, Washington

The writer is senior vice president of
Population Connection Action Fund.