Sec. of State Rex Tillerson
This week the Trump Administration’s Department of State announced an expansion of the pro-life “Mexico City Policy.”
The Mexico City Policy was created by President Reagan in 1984. It is a good policy that prevents American tax dollars from being used to subsidize abortions or abortion counseling overseas. It generally prevents federal family planning funds from going to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who perform abortions or abortion counseling.
On Monday the Department of State announced its “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance” program. This new program will expand the Mexico City policy to include other forms of government funding besides family planning funding–such as funding for HIV/AIDS relief, malaria, and maternal and child health.
Under the expanded policy, public funding for these global health programs will not go to NGOs who perform abortions or abortion counseling.
Ultimately this means federal funds will go to relief organizations who agree not to do abortions or abortion counseling instead of going to abortion providers like International Planned Parenthood Federation.
Many of the details of the new policy remain to be seen, but you can read a general overview of it on the Department of State’s website.
