Patrick Hauf – June 30, 2021
House Democrats are fighting for taxpayer-funded abortions through international aid in a bid to overturn a decades-long bipartisan agreement.
A spending bill advanced by the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittee Monday would repeal the Helms Amendment, which bans direct funding of abortions through foreign aid. The bill would also repeal the Mexico City policy, known by critics as the global gag rule, which prevents the United States from funding international organizations that are involved with abortion services. The policy has been implemented and repealed by presidents of opposing parties since its inception under President Ronald Reagan in 1985.
The United Nations Population Fund, which the Trump administration stopped funding in 2017 due to the group’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party’s family planning program, would receive a 50 percent increase in funding under the bill.
Supporters of the Helms Amendment and the Mexico City policy expressed concern with the U.S. government using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions globally.
“Repealing the Helms Amendment and funding United Nations Population Fund would endanger unborn lives worldwide and represent cultural imperialism of the worst kind, attempting to impose leftist values on countries whose people overwhelmingly reject them,” Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, told the Washington Free Beacon. “This extremism is also widely opposed by Americans, and Democrats will be forced to answer for it next time voters head to the polls.”
Pro-choice groups have long opposed the Helms Amendment and Mexico City policy, which they claim prevent funds from aiding vulnerable women across the globe in need of safe abortions.