“American taxpayer money will not be used to underwrite abortions”, said Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, yesterday at a press conference in Washington. “We’ll continue to refuse to assist foreign NGOs who perform or promote abortions, as well as give financial support to other foreign groups in the global abortion industry”, he said, promising “strict prohibition” on “backdoor funding”.
This decision is in line with the policy put in place in 2017 by the Trump administration, which has reinstated the ban on allocating federal international aid to foreign Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that perform abortion or actively advocate for it (see Donald Trump removes funding for NGOs supporting abortion). This restriction, the “Mexico City Policy”, was successively established under Republican President Ronald Reagan, then rescinded by Democratic President Bill Clinton, then reinstated by Republican President George W. Bush before being cancelled again by Democratic President Barack Obama.
Responding to criticism from feminist associations denouncing it as a restriction on the right to abortion, the US Secretary of State assured that the United States “would continue to meet its global public health objectives while implementing these restrictions”.
For further reading:
The “pro life” measure adopted by Donald Trump provokes reactions
Abortion: One of Us opposes the “She decides” fund
United States: strengthening the Mexico City Policy
United States: federal funds no longer used to fund abortion clinics
United States – most young adults disagree with Democrats on abortion
AFP (26 mars 2019)