President Trump is denying taxpayer funding to foreign nonprofits “that give financial support to other foreign groups in the global abortion industry” and cutting aid to a key regional organization, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Tuesday.
“We will enforce a strict prohibition on backdoor funding schemes and end-runs around our policy,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “American taxpayer dollars will not be used to underwrite abortions.”
Pompeo is expanding the so-called Mexico City Policy, first unveiled by President Reagan in 1984, that bars nongovernmental organizations from using taxpayer dollars to promote abortion. The policy is typically reversed by Democratic presidents and renewed during Republican administrations, but Pompeo is implementing the rule “to the broadest extent possible” by ensuring that foreign nonprofits don’t give U.S. funding to groups that would direct the money to abortion.
“We can achieve … the great work that many of these foreign NGOs do without running the risk that they’ll be used to perform abortions or advocate for abortions,” he told reporters. “It’s deeply consistent with the most moral behavior of governments, and we’re determined to make sure that we don’t allow taxpayers’ dollars to get to these places.”
That priority necessitated a clash with the Organization of American States, an assembly of the nations in the Western Hemisphere led by Secretary-General Luis Almagro. The former Uruguayan foreign minister is an ardent supporter of abortion rights, drawing criticism from traditional Roman Catholic bishops and activists throughout the region.
“The institutions of the OAS should be focused on addressing crises in Cuba, Nicaragua, and in Venezuela, not on advancing the pro-abortion cause,” Pompeo said. “And to ensure that our message is heard loud and clear, we will reduce our contributions to the OAS. Our reduction equals the estimated U.S. share of possible OAS expenditures on these abortion-related activities.”
Pompeo is withholding $210,000 from the regional body’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a subsequent briefing Tuesday afternoon. Palladino couldn’t provide precise figures for how many nongovernmental organizations would be affected by the expanded implementation of the Mexico City Policy.
The announcements drew immediate applause from organizers of the March for Life, an annual demonstration in D.C. to protest the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
“Taxpayer dollars should not fund abortion here or abroad, and respecting the inherent dignity of the unborn person goes hand in glove with our country’s foreign assistance and humanitarian work,” Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, said Tuesday. “The Secretary’s courageous leadership on the implementation of this policy will assure its proper oversight and help advance the protection and empowerment of human persons at all stages in our international global health assistance initiatives.”
Pompeo’s rebuke of the OAS highlighted a rare moment of discord between the Trump administration and Almagro’s team, as the two sides have worked closely together in an international diplomatic campaign to push Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro from power.
“[The Mexico City Policy] now protects every human life impacted by the nearly $9 billion of foreign aid we spend on global health programs each year, and in turn protects more unborn babies around the world than ever before,” Pompeo said. “This is decent; this is right. And I’m proud to serve in an administration that protects the least amongst us.”
