The Helms Amendment: 50 years of blocking safe access to abortion overseas 

This year would have marked the 50th anniversary of the constitutional protection of abortion through Roe v. Wade. Instead, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision revoked this fundamental right and left millions of Americans struggling to secure basic health care. While we in the United States now have to fight for the right to make our own decisions about our bodies, another 50 year-old U.S. policy, the Helms Amendment, continues to restrict people’s reproductive freedom all around the world. Dec. 17 marks 50 years since Helms was put in place, and its deadly consequences continue to be felt today. 

Passed in 1973, the Helms Amendment, introduced by Ellen’s grandfather Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), restricts the use of U.S. foreign assistance for “abortion as a method of family planning.” In practice, it is implemented as a complete ban on all abortion care, even in countries where abortion is legal. In fact, of the 56 countries receiving U.S. global health assistance, most (86 percent, or 48 countries) allow for abortion in at least one circumstance.  

So why does it matter? A lack of clarity around the Helms Amendment means that health professionals across the globe are afraid to provide available services, even when they are permitted to do so, and pregnant people are denied basic health information. On paper, there are exceptions in the Helms Amendment for rape, incest or danger to the mother’s life.  

However, the policy has a serious lack of understanding that makes identifying these exceptions in practice extremely challenging without proactive and affirmative guidance from the Biden administration. Astoundingly, this means that some women are denied abortions after sexual assault or if they suffer life-threatening pregnancy complications. Every year, roughly 35 million people around the world have unsafe abortions, and millions suffer injuries and disabilities as a result. The Helms Amendment exacerbates this crisis and puts the lives and health of millions of pregnant people, mostly Black and brown people, around the world at risk. 

Sound familiar? This is what has been happening in the U.S. since the Dobbs decision. Taking a cue from Sen. Helms’ playbook, a vocal minority of Republicans finally got what they had wanted for decades when Roe was overturned. They are squarely behind the extreme and inhumane state laws we see now and will keep pushing their anti-rights agenda at home and abroad. 

We know that 9 out of 10 Americans oppose a total ban on abortions. American voters have made their voices clear about where they stand on abortion in multiple recent elections, with access to abortion winning on the ballot over and over again, even in red states like Ohio and Kansas. 

Against the wishes of the vast majority of Americans, people’s rights to life, privacy, freedom from discrimination, and fundamental health care are being violated—not just here but abroad. International human rights treaty monitoring bodies and the general U.S. public are calling for change. We must do more now. That is why Jan is proud to lead the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which would permanently repeal the Helms Amendment and replace it with proactive language guaranteeing that U.S. funding will be used for comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion. 

Unfortunately, Republican leadership has decided to prioritize the extremist views of a minority of their party over the lives and safety of millions of people around the world. 

We also urge the Biden administration to use their authority to help ease the burden of this awful policy. In 2022, Ellen called on President Biden to end the “cruel and extreme implementation of the law.” The administration should also clarify that foreign assistance can be used in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment and cannot prevent the sharing of abortion information and referrals, as noted by the Department of Health and Human Services’ guidance. 

People everywhere — here in the United States and across the world — deserve the safety and dignity of basic reproductive health care, including abortion. Abortion is health care, and health care is a human right. People in the U.S. across the political spectrum know that. It is time to listen to the American people and ensure that our policies, foreign and domestic, should reflect our values: freedom, respect and equality for all. 

Jan Schakowsky represents the 9th District of Illinois and is a member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus. Ellen Gaddy, Ph.D., is a psychologist, political activist and granddaughter of the late Sen. Jess Helms (R-N.C.).