OSLO, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Norway has pledged to donate around 10 million U.S. dollars to assist women with abortion initiatives.
The announcement, made by Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg over the weekend, will make Norway the ninth country to join the global "She Decides" campaign aiming to counter U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-abortion rule.
Last month, Trump signed an executive order -- the global gag rule, banning funding for American non-governmental organizations which support abortion initiatives worldwide.
According to estimations, the ban would cause a funding shortfall of about 600 million dollars.
In response, the Dutch government in January launched the She Decides campaign, calling on countries to donate money to replace the shortfall.
"We need to compensate for this financial blow as much as possible with a broad-based funding, where governments, businesses and civil society organizations donate so that women can remain in control of their own bodies," said Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen in a January statement.
So far, the She Decides campaign has gained support from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Canada and Cape Verde, and has raised 40 million dollars.
