The State Department recently released a report confirming the Trump Administration’s “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance” policy (PLGHA), formerly known as the Mexico City Policy, is working. The PLGHA policy mandates that foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who receive aid from the United States must agree not to perform or promote abortions in developing countries.
Opponents have loudly and falsely claimed that PLGHA policy would have devastating impacts on vulnerable groups receiving critical medical care and could lead to the closure of health care clinics around the world. But the facts don’t support this. In reality, the report reveals that the policy has both protected life AND advanced overseas health initiatives.
The Mexico City Policy was initiated by President Reagan and promoted by every Republican administration since. In President Trump’s first week in office he expanded the scope of the PLGHA policy to not only include foreign aid provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and State Department, but also most U.S agencies and departments that work in global health assistance – like the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Despite opponents’ erroneous claims to the contrary, the PLGHA policy report shows that there have been no significant delays or disturbances in health care. The vast majority - over 99%- of U.S funded International NGOs agreed to the provisions. Only 8 of 1,360 primary recipients of government grants and 47 smaller, local organizations declined.
If Joe Biden wins the presidency, this progress would be instantaneously erased. Joe Biden now supports taxpayer-funded abortions, running on a platform more radical than ever when it comes to abortion. He has promised to do away with the PLGHA policy. His spokesperson stated that the former vice president, “will use executive action on his first day in office to withdraw the Mexico City ‘global gag rule.’” This comes as no surprise given the fact that the Obama administration dismantled the Mexico City Policy in 2008, following in the footsteps of the Clinton administration.
Biden and most Democratic politicians are wildly out of touch when it comes to American support for the PLGHA. In a recent Marist poll, 3-in-4 Americans said they oppose taxpayer funding of abortion overseas. This view isn’t limited to pro-life Americans - 61% of those who identify as pro-choice agree.
The Trump Administration has made policies that protect the inherent dignity of the unborn both here and abroad a major priority. President Trump led twenty-four countries at the United Nations in affirming that there is no international right to abortion. In a historic address to the United Nations General Assembly, he made it known, “Americans will also never tire of defending innocent life [...and] we in America believe that every child — born and unborn — is a sacred gift from God.”
Make no mistake, the protection of unborn life in the U.S. and abroad is on the ballot this November. As pro-abortion politicians and international abortion corporations like Planned Parenthood work tirelessly and spend millions for the political power to ensure this popular and compassionate policy comes to an end, Americans everywhere who support it should take note.
Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life.