Traci DeVette Griggs | January 23, 2017 | SHARE: 
In one of his first actions as president, Donald Trump signed an executive order restoring a ban on federal tax dollars that have been promoting and subsidizing abortions overseas. The funding would continue to be distributed to health organizations that provide valuable and lifesaving health care but which do not promote or provide abortion services.
“The fact that President Trump chose to take this action on his first official week in office is an encouraging sign to all pro-life Americans,” said NC Family President John L. Rustin. “It gives us hope that, under the Trump Administration, the lives of unborn children will be valued and protected and federal dollars will not be used to fund groups in our country like abortion giant Planned Parenthood.”
The ban originated in 1984 when President Ronald Reagan signed a memorandum known as the “Mexico City Policy” during a NATO conference in Mexico City. The ban was rescinded by President Bill Clinton in 1993, reinstated by President George W. Bush in 2001, and again rescinded by President Barack Obama in 2009. According to the Guttmacher Institute, theU.S. federal budget includes $607.5 million for reproductive health in foreign countries.
Meanwhile, Congress is grappling with the issue of federal funding for abortions within the United States. Despite the fact that several pro-life provisions (most notably the Hyde Amendment) have banned federal tax dollars from paying for abortions in this country, theAffordable Care Act, or “ObamaCare,” established several subsidies and requirements that circumvent these longstanding laws. The “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which would counteract such provisions, is expected to be considered this week.
