Washington D.C., Jan 28, 2009 / 14:10 pm
Four U.S. Congressmen introduced legislation on Wednesday in an attempt to reinstate the Mexico City Policy, which was overturned by President Obama on January 23.
Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced House Resolution 708, describing it as aimed at restoring the “abortion-neutral” Mexico City Policy. According to a press release from Reps. Smith and Sensenbrenner, the federal funding restrictions establish a “wall of separation” between abortion and family planning.
The Mexico City Policy, which was introduced by former President Reagan in 1984, prevents federal funds from going to overseas groups that promote or perform abortions.
“One of President Barrack Obama’s first acts in office was to issue an executive order to allow U.S. taxpayer money to flow to groups that perform abortions or actively work to overturn pro-life laws all over the world,” said Rep. Smith. “It’s a sad statement about his list of priorities. With Americans facing an economic crisis the likes of which we’ve not seen in generations, he chooses to enact a policy that will redirect funds to foreign organizations promoting and conducting abortions.”