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Trump Revives Ban on Foreign Aid to Health Groups if They Give Abortion Counseling Trump Revives Ban on Foreign Aid to Groups That Give Abortion Counseling
(about 3 hours later)
UNITED NATIONS — President Trump reinstated a policy on Monday that originated in the Reagan era, prohibiting the use of United States foreign aid to health providers abroad who discuss abortion as a family-planning option. UNITED NATIONS — President Trump reinstated a policy on Monday that originated in the Reagan era, prohibiting the granting of American foreign aid to health providers abroad who discuss abortion as a family-planning option.
United States law already prohibits the use of American taxpayer dollars for abortion services anywhere, including in countries where the procedure is legal. But this order takes it further. It freezes United States funding to health care providers in poor countries if they include abortion counseling or if they advocate the right to seek abortion in their countries. United States law already prohibits the use of American taxpayer dollars for abortion services anywhere, including in countries where the procedure is legal. But Mr. Trump’s order takes the prohibition further: It freezes funding to nongovernmental organizations in poor countries if they offer abortion counseling or if they advocate the right to seek abortion in their countries.
Mr. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had stated their opposition to abortion during the presidential campaign. Mr. Trump had signaled his intent to make the order one of his first acts as president, which pleased the anti-abortion lobby at home. The freeze applies even if the organizations already use other sources of funding for these services.
Mr. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence stated their opposition to abortion during the presidential campaign. Mr. Trump had signaled his intent to make the order one of his first acts as president, which pleased anti-abortion activists at home.
“We applaud President Trump for putting an end to taxpayer funding of groups that promote the killing of unborn children in developing nations,” Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee in Washington, the nation’s largest anti-abortion organization, said in a statement.“We applaud President Trump for putting an end to taxpayer funding of groups that promote the killing of unborn children in developing nations,” Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee in Washington, the nation’s largest anti-abortion organization, said in a statement.
Critics said the order reflected what they regarded as the new administration’s defiance of women’s reproductive health rights, whose advocates were an important force in the weekend protest marches in Washington and other cities after Mr. Trump’s inauguration. Critics said the order reflected the new administration’s disregard of women’s reproductive health rights, whose advocates were an important force in the protest marches in Washington and other cities after Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
The order revives what is known as the Mexico City policy, so named because President Ronald Reagan announced it in 1984 during a United Nations population conference in Mexico City. Critics call it the Global Gag Rule. It revives what is known as the Mexico City policy, so named because President Ronald Reagan announced it in 1984 during a United Nations population conference in Mexico City. Critics call it the global gag rule. Since Reagan, Democratic administrations have suspended the policy and Republicans have reimposed it.
As for the order’s practical effects, health policy experts say restrictions on abortion services in the past have not led to a decline in abortion rates in countries that receive funding from the United States for reproductive health services, and they warn that those restrictions only heighten the chances of illegal, often unsafe, abortions. Asked at his first official briefing on Monday what message the Trump administration was seeking to send by reinstating the policy as one of its first orders of business, Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman, told reporters in Washington that Mr. Trump had “made it very clear that he’s a pro-life president.”
The United States is the largest bilateral donor of reproductive health services abroad, according to the United Nations Foundation, which advocates greater support from the United States for the world body. “He wants to stand up for all Americans, including the unborn, and I think the reinstatement of this policy is not just something that echoes that value but respects taxpayer funding as well,” Mr. Spicer said.
In recent decades, abortion rates have declined sharply in the richest countries, including the United States, where the rate has fallen to its lowest since the Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports women’s right to have an abortion. It has remained steady in the developing world since the early 1990s. Health experts say the policy has not led to a decline in abortions in the affected countries. Some research suggests that it has had the counterintuitive effect of increasing abortion rates by forcing health clinics to close or to restrict contraceptive supplies because of lack of funding. Others say the restriction only heightens the risk of illegal and often unsafe abortions.
The impact of the order is likely to be felt beyond abortion services, which cannot be carried out with any federal funding, under a 1973 law known as the Helms Amendment and named after the former North Carolina senator Jesse Helms. The impact of Mr. Trump’s order is likely to be felt beyond abortion services, which cannot be carried out with federal funding under a 1973 law known as the Helms Amendment, after the former North Carolina senator Jesse Helms.
Critics say the order would hinder the ability of women in poor countries to access reproductive health services, including family planning, by severing United States funding to health clinics that offer a variety of services, including abortion counseling. Critics said the order would hinder the ability of women in poor countries to obtain reproductive health services, including family planning, by severing American funding to health clinics that offer a variety of services, including abortion counseling.
A study of 20 sub-Saharan African countries by Stanford University researchers, for instance, found that in countries that relied heavily on funding from the United States for reproductive health services, abortion rates rose when the Reagan-era policy was in place. The International Planned Parenthood Federation said its partners in Nepal, Kenya and Ethiopia had lost American funding the last time the policy was in effect, during the Bush administration. Because nongovernmental groups in those countries refused to accept the conditions of the policy, they were compelled to close clinics and offer fewer contraceptives, said Kelly Castagnaro, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman.
The World Health Organization says 225 million women in the developing world would like to delay childbearing but are not using contraception for a variety of reasons, including a lack of access. A study of 20 sub-Saharan African countries by Stanford University researchers found that in countries that relied heavily on funding from the United States for reproductive health services, abortion rates rose when the Reagan-era policy was in place.
“President Trump’s reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule ignores decades of research, instead favoring ideological politics over women and families,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, said on Monday. “We know that when family planning services and contraceptives are easily accessible, there are fewer unplanned pregnancies, maternal deaths and abortions.” “When the policy comes on, fewer women get contraceptives in countries that depend on U.S. funding for family planning,” Eran Bendavid, the lead author of the study, said on Monday. The outcome is “not what you’d expect,” he said.
Vicki Saporta, president and chief executive of the National Abortion Federation, a Washington-based advocacy group for abortion rights, said in a statement that “President Trump’s decision to reinstate the Global Gag Rule will endanger already vulnerable women by further curtailing their access to accurate information and safe reproductive health care services.” Ms. Castagnaro said the revival of the Mexico City policy could cost Planned Parenthood about $100 million in American funding over the next four years.
The policy has been suspended by every Democratic president since then and reinstated by every Republican. Democrats in Congress have tried — unsuccessfully — to pass legislation that would scrap the policy. Ms. Shaheen said she intended to introduce similar legislation. With Republicans controlling both houses, it is unlikely to pass. In recent decades, abortion rates have declined sharply in the richest countries, including the United States, where the rate has fallen to its lowest level since the Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Rates have remained steady in the developing world since the early 1990s.
Mr. Trump’s pick for ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, made clear in her confirmation hearing last week that she opposed abortion, even as she said she backed support for contraceptive services in United States foreign aid programs. The World Health Organization says 225 million women in developing nations would like to delay childbearing but are not using contraception for a variety of reasons, including a lack of access.
“President Trump’s reinstatement of the global gag rule ignores decades of research, instead favoring ideological politics over women and families,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, said on Monday. “We know that when family planning services and contraceptives are easily accessible, there are fewer unplanned pregnancies, maternal deaths and abortions.”
Vicki Saporta, president and chief executive of the National Abortion Federation, a Washington-based advocacy group for abortion rights, said in a statement, “President Trump’s decision to reinstate the global gag rule will endanger already vulnerable women by further curtailing their access to accurate information and safe reproductive health care services.”
Mr. Trump’s order repealed one made by President Obama when he took office in 2009, which had repealed the Bush version of the policy from 2001. In effect, Mr. Trump reinstated the Bush policy.
Democrats in Congress have tried, unsuccessfully, to pass legislation that would scrap the policy. Ms. Shaheen said she intended to introduce similar legislation. But with Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, it is unlikely to pass.
Mr. Trump’s pick for ambassador to the United Nations, Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, made clear in her confirmation hearing last week that she opposed abortion, but said she supported funding for contraceptive services in United States foreign aid programs.