Planned Parenthood, Marie Stopes International reject Trump’s abortion mandates for federal funding
The U.S. State Department issued a new report Wednesday revealing that 729 out of 733 organizations accepted the Trump administration’s requirement they not commit or perform abortion as a condition of receiving aid money. Not surprising, International Planned Parenthood Federation topped the list with Marie Stopes International by staying committed to promotion and execution of abortions.
The names of the other two organizations are not yet public.
Planned Parenthood supporters at protest 2011 photo/S. MiRK via wikimedia commons
Government grants to the 733 organizations were up for renewal, and they had to demonstrate compliance with the Mexico City Policy in order to obtain funding.
“We could never agree to its conditions,” the Marie Stopes abortion company explained. But that means “we now face a $30 million annual funding gap…From 2018, many of our programs are facing a cliff-edge, and the gap will only continue to grow.”
The Mexico City Policy, now called the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA), prevents U.S. aid money from going to organizations that commit or promote abortion abroad.
The first president to rescind the Mexico City Policy, which began under Reagan, was Clinton in 1993. George W. Bush re-established it and Obama rescinded it.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) “established a team in Washington with representatives from across the Agency to oversee the proper implementation of the policy,” according to the State Department.
The report also says U.S. agencies around the world were trained in implementing the policy.
It notes, “the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops lauded PLGHA as ‘one of the most significant policy initiatives on abortion ever taken by the United States in an area of foreign assistance.’”
“With less than six months of policy implementation, it is too early to assess the full range of benefits and challenges of the PLGHA policy for global health assistance,” the State Department said.
On December 15, 2018, the State Department will conduct another review of the policy.
Image Courtesy: Flickr/sabianmaggy
