Trump's Abortion‐Promoting Aid Policy

Abstract

On the fourth day of his presidency, Donald Trump reinstated and greatly expanded the "Mexico City policy," which imposes antiabortion restrictions on U.S. foreign health aid. In general, the policy has prohibited U.S. funding of any family-planning groups that use even non-U.S. funds to perform abortions; prohibited aid recipients from lobbying (again, even with non-U.S. money) for liberalization of abortion laws; prohibited nongovernment organizations from creating educational materials on abortion as a family-planning method; and prohibited health workers from referring patients for legal abortions in any cases other than rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. The policy's prohibition on giving aid to any organization that performs abortions is aimed at limiting alleged indirect funding of abortions. The argument is that if U.S. money is used to fund nonabortion programs of an abortion-providing NGO, then the NGO can simply shift the money thus saved into its abortion budget. Outside the context of abortion, we do not reason this way. And the policy's remaining three prohibitions are deeply troubling.

The Global Gag Rule: The death trap for comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare and way to overcome the US gag rule

“…73 In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, IPPF needs to close community-based activities greatly hampered due to funding constraints after the expansion of the GGR. 15,74 The community health workers (CHWs) of these community clinics are principal performers. They provide several health-related and family planning services in the communities' hard-to-reach areas.…”