#HelmsHurts: Critics discuss 40-year US ban on abortion funding abroad

On the heels of the 40-year anniversary of the Helms amendment – a law banning U.S. foreign aid funds to go toward abortion as a method of family planning – women's rights advocates promoted the hashtag #HelmsHurts to discuss what they say are the negative repercussions of the policy around the world.

Although the Helms amendment, enacted in 1973, makes exceptions for victims of rape or incest, aid agency USAID has not funded any abortion service programs.