U.S. restricts backdoor funding of overseas abortions

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Tuesday that the Trump administration is tightening rules to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from paying for abortions overseas. The Global Protect Life policy, formerly called the Mexico City policy, already blocked funding to any nongovernmental organization (NGO) engaged in the abortion business, and Pompeo said the new policy expands that rule.

“We are also making clear that we will refuse to provide assistance to foreign NGOs that give financial support to other foreign groups in the global abortion industry,” he said. “We will enforce a strict prohibition on backdoor funding schemes and end runs around our policy.”

Pompeo said the Trump administration has shown “that we can continue to meet our critical global health goals, including providing healthcare for women, while refusing to subsidize the killing of unborn babies.”

As a first step, the State Department announced plans to cut about $210,000 in funding for the Organization of American States because at least one of its affiliated institutions has lobbied for abortion availability in the Western Hemisphere.