Donald Trump is dramatically expanding the federal government’s support for health care organisations that agree to not provide abortion services to the tune of nearly $9bn.
The State Department is ready to announce a programme, called “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance,” which will reportedly get $8.8bn (£6.8bn) to fund non governmental organisations around the world that comply with the "global gag" rule, which states that no organisation receiving US money can promote or discuss abortion services, even if they are using foreign funds to do so.
The rule is also known as the Mexico City policy, named for the location of a 1984 United Nations conference where President Ronald Reagan announced the policy.
The money will come from the US State Department, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Defence Department according to CBN News.
Mr Trump reinstated the rule from the George W. Bush administration, which prevents any foreign organisation receiving US funds from providing or even discussing abortion services with women.
The rule also prevents any foreign organisation receiving US funds to work with any abortion service providers.
Mr Bush excluded programmes that involved HIV/AIDS prevention from the rule however Mr Trump did not. In fact, expanded global gag to apply to all global health assistance funds, not just money allocated towards family planning accounts as Mr Bush had ruled.
This means that an organisation in a developing country that provides anti-malaria medication or other preventable disease care with US money they could be excluded from receiving any global health assistance funds if they offer or even speak about any type of abortion services with patients.
Mr Trump’s version of the global gag rule left what many experts estimated was a $600 million gap in abortion and family planning services that other countries’ aid agencies and private donors would need to fill.
This latest announcement will increase that gap by millions, if not more, depending on what organisations the order will apply to according to Akila Radhakrishnan, Vice President and Legal Director of the Global Justice Center.
She also told The Independent this is not new federal money but an allocation of the budget for all global health assistance which is approximately $10 billion (£7.7bn).
The Department of Defence seems like a curious addition to Mr Trump’s instructions, but the agency does receive funds for global health assistance, said Ms Radhakrishnan.
However, a White House official told CBN News that humanitarian, disaster, and refugee assistance from USAID and Defence will not be affected.
Organisations that do not comply with the provisions laid out by Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance programme will not receive funds. That money will now go to organisations that do agree to comply, CBN News reports.
Ms Radhakrishnan said that the $8.8 billion will apply to a “broad swathe” of global health assistance accounts, but organisations have not received guidance from the State department on what accounts those are or how the new rules will be implemented as yet.
“It is unclear...if [Mr Trump] is going to maintain this on foreign NGOs” or if the administration will expand upon that, said Ms Radhakrishnan.
