Abortion Groups React to Trump Halting Overseas Abortion Funding

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WASHINGTON DC, January 31 (C-Fam) Last Friday President Trump signed an executive order ending U.S. complicity in providing global access to abortion. The reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy cuts off federal assistance to abortion groups that refuse to stop abortion activities.  The response from Democratic lawmakers and abortion proponents, though expected, includes false claims that the policy will have devastating effects throughout the developing world.

“As the single largest funder of international aid, the U.S. plays a powerful role in shaping the global health landscape—and women’s and girls’ lives are being used as pawns in this political game,” wrote Dr. Carole Sekimpi, senior director for MSI Reproductive Choices working in Africa.

Sekimpi complained that the loss of U.S. grant money prevented her organization from serving the needs of “8 million women, preventing 6 million unintended pregnancies, 1.8 million unsafe abortions, and 20,000 maternal deaths.” Sekimpi did not acknowledge that MSI voluntarily forfeited funding, opting to prioritize abortion over delivering women’s healthcare.

MSI Reproductive Choices has pledged to fight back, sending an “unequivocal” message to President Trump—”we will never sign” an agreement not to promote or perform abortions.

Known as the Mexico City Policy, the rule prohibits U.S. assistance to organizations that perform or lobby on abortion. Originally instituted by Ronald Reagan in 1984 the prohibition originally covered only family planning. In 2017, President Trump renamed it the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA) and expanded it to global health administered by USAID, and HIV/AIDs programs that also performed abortions.

“This move is dangerous,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “President Trump is kicking off his second term exactly as anticipated: attacking sexual and reproductive health care.” McGill Johnson said the “deadly policy” is also anti-democratic because it restricts free speech.

“Let us be clear: this policy will not protect lives—it will endanger them,” said Melanie Nezer, the Women’s Refugee Commission’s vice president for advocacy and external relations. “The result is more suffering from the consequences of conflict-related sexual violence, more unintended pregnancies, more unsafe abortions, and more maternal death that would otherwise be entirely preventable.”

“The reinstatement and expansion of President Trump’s Global Gag Rule is a direct assault on the health and human rights of millions of people around the world,” said Rachana Desai Martin, Chief Government & External Relations Officer at the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR). CRR, a litigious abortion rights group that challenges pro-life laws around the world established a “Global Gag Rule Pro Bono Clearinghouse” to help organizations with “legal assistance in navigating the newly reinstated policy.”

The accusations by abortion proponents are not supported by data.  A federal government review of PLGHA implementation determined that women’s health around the world was not diminished nor was global health assistance reduced.

While the guideline for implementation was restricted to global health funding for development assistance and HIV/AIDs, pro-life advocates hope Secretary Marco Rubio will extend the order to a much larger portion of the federal budget including global health programs within humanitarian assistance. This is warranted given global abortion groups like International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and others have moved into the humanitarian arena.

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