Joe Biden axes 'global gag rule' but health groups call on him to go further

President's move to end abortion ban' on overseas funding hailed - now aid groups want apology for harmful Trump policies

Health groups around the world are celebrating the end of a harmful policy banning US funding for overseas aid organisations that facilitate or promote abortion, which was scrapped by the US president, Joe Biden, in a presidential memorandum on Thursday.

Reproductive rights advocates are urging the new administration to now go further and permanently repeal the Mexico City policy - known as the global gag rule" - to prevent it being reinstated by a future Republican president. The policy has been blamed for contributing to thousands of maternal deaths in the developing world over the past four years.