CNA Staff, Sep 14, 2020 / 09:30 am
The Trump administration has announced plans to expand the Mexico City Policy, which limits access to U.S. overseas aid by organizations involved in abortions. A new proposed rule, posted to the Federal Register on Monday, would expand the policy to include military and government contracts overseas.
Named for the location of the 1984 UN conference on population and development, the Mexico City Policy bars some U.S. foreign aid from funding foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in abortions. It was first instituted by the Reagan administration. The policy is not law and has been repealed by the Clinton and Obama administrations, but reinstated by the George W. Bush and Trump administrations.
While the policy previously covered around $600 million in USAID family planning assistance, President Trump directed the State Department to expand it to cover "global health assistance furnished by all departments or agencies" to the extent allowed by the law.
The expanded Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy covers nearly $9 billion in U.S. foreign aid under the State Department, USAID, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Defense. This includes, for example, grants to foreign NGOs under international health programs to fight AIDS and infectious diseases, or to provide maternal and child nutrition.