Trump revives funding ban to groups providing abortion overseas

If there was any doubt President Donald Trump would move quickly to solidify his anti-abortion bona fides, he settled it today by using an executive order to bar U.S. aid to groups that provide or promote the procedure overseas.

The decision to reinstate — and significantly expand — the Republican policy known as the “Mexico City policy,” or the “global gag rule,” was delivered a day after the 44th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion and two days after the Women's March on Washington and similar events across the country drew crowds to rally for reproductive rights, among other issues.


The new policy would prohibit any federal aid to foreign organizations that provide or promote abortion. In the past, the policy only applied to organizations that got family planning funding. Now, it will apply to organizations that get global health money, potentially including maternal health programs, anti-Zika efforts and the expansive PEPFAR program to stop HIV/AIDS.

“The intent is to extend the policy to apply not just to family planning assistance but to global health, including PEPFAR and maternal health,” said Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, who added that the full scope of the policy isn’t yet known. She estimated that when the policy has been applied in the past, it covered about $600 million in foreign aid spending. The new policy could potentially cover up to $8 billion.

“Not only has President Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy, he’s modernized it by applying it to all foreign health assistance programs,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List, a leading anti-abortion group.

The policy has been instituted by every Republican president since Ronald Reagan and rescinded by Democratic presidents. It prohibits NGOs that receive federal funding — including health care providers or organizations — from providing or promoting abortion or from advocating for abortion laws abroad.

The move was cheered by abortion foes and decried by supporters of abortion rights.

“President Trump's reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule ignores decades of research, instead favoring ideological politics over women and families," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). "We know that when family planning services and contraceptives are easily accessible, there are fewer unplanned pregnancies, maternal deaths, and abortions."

Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, warned that the move makes "clear that women will be the first casualty of his administration."

But anti-abortion groups and lawmakers say their federal tax dollars shouldn't be used to pay for or to provide information about a procedure they disagree with.

“President Trump’s immediate action to promote respect for all human life, including vulnerable unborn children abroad, as well as conscience rights, sends a strong signal about his Administration’s pro-life priorities,” said Dannensfelser.