PENGARUH KEBIJAKAN GLOBAL GAG RULE ERA DONALD TRUMP TERHADAP LAYANAN KESEHATAN PEREMPUAN DI KENYA

This study analyzes the impact of Donald Trump’s Global Gag Rule (GGR) on women’s health services in Kenya. Reinstated and expanded under the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance framework, the policy tightened U.S. funding restrictions on foreign health organizations that provide abortion-related services, information, or advocacy, even when these activities are financed with non-U.S. funds. Employing a qualitative descriptive design and Theotonio dos Santos’ dependency theory, the research focuses on two key indicators: structural inequality and Kenya’s resistance and self-reliance efforts in the health sector. The findings show that the implementation of GGR deepened existing disparities in access to sexual and reproductive health services, particularly among poor and rural women. The loss of U.S. support and the closure or downsizing of clinics disrupted the supply of modern contraceptives, reduced access to integrated reproductive health services, and contributed to rising rates of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and maternal deaths. At the same time, the Kenyan state and civil society attempted to mitigate these impacts by strengthening domestic health financing, diversifying international partnerships, and expanding universal health coverage schemes, although these measures were insufficient to fully replace U.S. funding. Overall, the study concludes that GGR functions not only as a restrictive health policy but also as an instrument that reproduces structural dependency between developed and developing countries and constrains women’s reproductive rights in aid dependent contexts.