In January 2017, President Donald Trump reinstated and expanded a policy that forbids international organizations from using U.S. foreign aid to promote abortion or provide information about abortion as a form of family planning.

The policy, established by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, is commonly referred to as the Mexico City Policy because it was introduced to the International Conference on Population held in Mexico City that year. Critics often refer to it as the “global gag rule.”

Reagan’s policy tightened restrictions on funds distributed through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 already prohibited non-governmental organizations from using federal money to pay for abortions or entice women to have them. Over the years, the Mexico City Policy has been reinstated and rescinded multiple times, depending on the party of the president who is in office.

Despite the controversy and amount of federal funding involved, there is limited published research on the impact of the Mexico City Policy. Journalist’s Resource has pulled together a few academic studies as well as other resources that we hope will be helpful to journalists covering this topic.

“United States Aid Policy and Induced Abortion in Sub-Saharan Africa”

 Bendavid, Eran; Avila, Patrick; Miller, Grant. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2011. doi: 10.2471/BLT.11.091660.

Summary: Three researchers from Stanford University look at how the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy in 2001 affected the probability that a woman in sub-Saharan Africa would have an induced abortion. The study, which focuses on 20 countries, suggests the Mexico City Policy is associated with an increase in abortions. “Overall, the induced abortion rate increased significantly from 10.4 per 10,000 woman–years for the period from 1994 to 2001 to 14.5 per 10,000 woman–years for the period from 2001 to 2008 (P = 0.01). Although the trend changed gradually, the timing of the rise is consistent with the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy in early 2001.”

“Contraceptive Supply and Fertility Outcomes: Evidence from Ghana”

 Jones, Kelly M. Economic Development and Cultural Change, October 2015, Vol. 64. doi: 10.1086/682981.

Summary: The author examines how cuts in U.S. funding for contraceptives affect pregnancy, abortion and births in one nation in sub-Saharan Africa. The study indicates that a smaller supply of contraceptives resulted in a greater number of pregnancies. Among rural women, the use of abortion rose by 2.35 percentage points.
• A 2016 study published in The Lancet, “Abortion Incidence Between 1990 and 2014: Global, Regional, and Subregional Levels and Trends,” finds that abortion rates have fallen globally.
• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) helps fund a range of international projects aimed at, among other things, improving global health and reducing poverty.
• This 1984 article in Population and Development Review explores the Mexico City Policy.
• The 2009 statement from President Barack Obama on rescinding the Mexico City Policy.
• The 2001 statement from President George W. Bush on restoring the policy.
• The 1993 statement of President Bill Clinton on rescinding it.

We welcome feedback. Please contact us here.</s>AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands is launching a global fund to help women access abortion services to compensate for U.S. President Donald Trump’s ban on U.S. federal funding for foreign groups providing abortions or abortion support for family planning abroad.

Activists take part in a rally to support Polish women protesting against a ban of abortion, in front of the Polish embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

The Dutch government has held preliminary discussions on the initiative with other European Union members who have responded positively, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. Governments outside the EU, companies and social institutions will also be approached to participate.

Trump on Monday reinstated a policy that requires foreign NGOs who receive U.S. global family planning funds to certify that they do not perform abortions or provide abortion advice as a method of family planning.

Dutch officials estimate that Trump’s restrictions will cause a funding shortfall of $600 million over the next four years. Women’s rights and health campaigners have reacted with anger at Trump’s move. They say restrictions on abortion endanger women’s lives. Trump has also pledged to withdraw funding from U.S. domestic abortion services.

The policy was announced on Tuesday by Liliane Ploumen, minister for international development cooperation, whose Labour Party - the junior coalition partner in the government - is traditionally staunchly favour of abortion rights.

The Netherlands’s laws on reproduction and reproductive health are among the world’s most liberal. The Dutch vote in parliamentary elections in March.

Foreign ministry spokesman Herman van Gelderen said he was confident relations with the new U.S. administration would not be damaged by the measure.

“Where decisions are taken that are bad for women in developing countries we should help those women,” he said. “It’s not about the politics, it’s about those women.”

The policy also prohibits U.S. federal assistance for foreign groups that use non-U.S. funds for those abortion services or lobby foreign governments to legalise abortion, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which looks at U.S. global health policy.

Intermittently implemented by U.S. governments since 1984, Barack Obama lifted the measure at the start of his own presidency in 2009. It does not apply to abortion or abortion advice in cases where a pregnancy is a risk to the life of the mother or has resulted from incest or rape.</s>De Nederlandse minister van Ontwikkelingssamenwerking Lilianne Ploumen wil een nieuw internationaal fonds oprichten om abortusorganisaties in ontwikkelingslanden te financieren. Die kijken aan tegen een tekort nadat de nieuwe Amerikaanse president Donald Trump de financiering schrapte. Vicepremier Alexander De Croo zegde ondertussen zijn steun al toe namens ons land.

De Amerikaanse overheid schrapt de bijdragen aan buitenlandse ngo’s die gespecialiseerd zijn in gezondheidszorg in arme landen, als die helpen bij het uitvoeren van abortussen, of zelfs enkel het recht op abortus verdedigen binnen het kader van familieplanning. President Trump ondertekende daarvoor op zijn eerste werkdag een decreet.

Hierdoor zitten de organisaties met een gat van 600 miljoen dollar (ongeveer 560 miljoen euro). Om dat tekort te compenseren, wil de Nederlandse minister van Ontwikkelingssamenwerking Lilianne Ploumen een nieuw internationaal fonds oprichten, dat ook projecten voor anticonceptie en abortussen kan financieren.

Ploumen is in gesprek met een brede coalitie van landen, bedrijven en organisaties om het fonds op te zetten. ‘We willen dat vrouwen zo veel mogelijk toegang houden tot hun rechten’, zegt Ploumen in De Volkskrant. ‘Het verbieden van abortus leidt niet tot minder abortussen. Het leidt tot meer onverantwoorde praktijken in achterafkamertjes en tot meer moedersterfte.’

De Croo: 'Amerikaanse beslissing treft miljoenen meisjes'

Onze minister van Ontwikkelingssamenwerking Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) staat alvast achter het idee. 'Minister De Croo had vanmiddag telefonisch contact met zijn Nederlandse collega om de Belgische steun toe te zeggen'. klinkt het in een persbericht.

'Deze Amerikaanse beslissing van het Witte Huis heeft een rechtstreekse impact op het leven van miljoenen meisjes en vrouwen in ontwikkelingslanden', benadrukt De Croo. 'Informatie over gezinsplanning en de mogelijkheid van abortus zijn voor de ontwikkeling van meisjes en vrouwen van groot belang. Wanneer een meisje als tiener zwanger wordt, ontneemt dat haar kansen in haar verdere leven. Vaak moet ze stoppen met school terwijl naar school gaan precies zo belangrijk is. Geschoolde meisjes en vrouwen staan steviger in hun schoenen, kunnen beter eigen keuzes maken en hebben zelf gezondere en betere opgeleide kinderen. Maar ook het vrij beschikbaar zijn van contraceptiva is belangrijk en zorgt voor minder tienerzwangerschappen en lagere moedersterfte.'</s>Up to 20 countries have indicated support for the Netherlands’ plan to set up an international safe abortion fund to plug a $600m funding gap caused by Donald Trump’s reinstatement of the “global gag rule”, the Dutch international development minister, Lilianne Ploumen, said on Wednesday.



Ploumen took soundings from a number of her colleagues around the world on Tuesday evening after the Netherlands said it would act to mitigate the impact on hundreds of charities around the world.

The “global gag rule”, also known as the Mexico City policy, was reimposed by Trump on Monday, and bans US federal funding for NGOs in foreign countries that provide abortion services or abortion advocacy.



‘We’re in talks with 15 to 20 countries and we’ve also spoken to foundations,” Ploumen told the Guardian. “As well as contacting a number of European countries that we work with on these issues, we’re also in touch with countries in South America and Africa, as well as the foundations. It’s important to have the broadest possible support for the fund.”

Ploumen did not identify which countries had been approached or how much money the Dutch government might commit to the scheme. She said the aim would be to continue support for existing programmes being run by organisations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), the International Planned Parenting Federation and Marie Stopes International.

“These are successful and effective programmes: direct support, distributing condoms, making sure women are accompanied at the birth, and making sure abortion is safe if they have no other choice,” she said.

Ploumen admitted that replacing the $600m that Trump has pulled from family planning services was a tall order, but added: ‘You should never compromise on your aims from the outset. Six hundred million dollars is a very ambitious target but we’re committed to it.’

She hopes to be in a position to start arranging funding within the next two to three weeks. “We need a bit of time for everyone to get organised, but I don’t want it to take six months. The funding is being stopped immediately, so the sooner the organisations have the security of knowing that their programmes can continue, the better,” she said.

The move sets the Dutch government squarely against the Trump administration and could cause tensions between Europe and the United States, but Ploumen said it was the Netherlands’ right to take an independent stance. “I’m pro-choice and pro-women’s rights. It’s important to stand your ground,” she said. “We respect the decisions of a democratically elected president, but we’re democratically elected too and we can make different decisions.

“This is also about millions of women and girls who often have no voice or live in countries where democracy is less deeply rooted, and when they speak up they need our support.”

Dutch voters are due to elect a new parliament in seven weeks’ time, which will almost certainly trigger a change of government, but Ploumen is confident that support for the plan will continue. “The Netherlands has a long tradition of standing up for sexual and reproductive rights. I don’t see that being a problem,” she said.</s>The Dutch government has pledged to support international organisations working to provide family planning and abortion-related services in developing countries – in reaction to an executive order gagging it by US President Donald Trump.

Minister for foreign trade and development cooperation Lilianne Ploumen announced the plan on 24 January, after Trump re-enacted the Mexico City Policy. It prevents US foreign aid funds reaching overseas non-governmental organisations offering abortion-related services – also known as the global gag rule.

"We need to compensate for this financial blow as much as possible, with a broad-based fund, where governments, businesses and civil society organisations donate to. So that women can remain in control of their own bodies," Ploumen said.

The Dutch minister said she was disappointed by Trump's decision, taken on his third day in office but consistent with the policy of every other Republican president since Ronald Reagan first enacted the policy in 1984. Every Democrat president has repealed the policy on their first days in office.

Ploumen, a politician from the Dutch Labour party PvdA, which rules in a coalition government with the centre-right VVD, said she was concerned about the impact of the policy on women's healthcare and development.

She said: "This has far-reaching consequences. First of all, for all those women who have to make, if they want to have a child, a choice, but also for their husbands and children and society as a whole. Banning abortion does not lead to fewer abortions. It leads to more irresponsible practices in back rooms and more maternal deaths."

Ploumen quoted figures from the organisation Marie Stopes International, one of the organisations that will lose the funding as it refuses to comply with the order, estimating that globally, 14 pregnant women could die each day as a consequence of the abortion-gag order in the next four years.

The organisation also estimates a rise in unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions, data that was confirmed by an empirical research sanctioned by the World Health Organisation. A 2011 study found the Mexico City policy enactment is associated with increased abortion rates in sub-Saharan African countries. "Our findings suggest that this United States policy may have unrecognised – and unintended – health consequences," the study said.

Ploumen wants her country to support the right to good healthcare for women, including the right to abortion, estimating that the Dutch support for women's organisations prevented more than 6 million unwanted pregnancies and a half a million abortions last year alone.

"The US decision threatens to undermine these results. We must not let this happen," Ploumen said.</s>In an attempt to counter United States President Donald Trump's orders on Tuesday to halt US funds for global non-governmentals advocating abortions, Netherlands is planning to launch an international fund for abortions.

Trump on Tuesday signed executive orders reinstating the Mexico City Policy on abortion. The Mexico City Policy is a US government policy enacted and rescinded intermittently. The policy requires all foreign NGOs, which receive federal funding to refrain from promoting or performing abortion services as one of the methods of family planning with non-US government funds in other countries.

The Dutch government however has taken the war in its stride and is planning to counter Trump's anti-abortion agenda with a global fund to finance access to birth control and abortion in developing countries. The fund is aimed at providing financial assistance to developing countries and advocating wome's reproductive rights.

The government said that banning abortions is not the answer to fewer abortions as it will only lead to more maternal deaths as women will be forced to follow dangerous practices.

"Banning abortions does not result in fewer abortions. It leads to more irresponsible practices in back rooms and more maternal deaths," Dutch Trade and Development Minister Lilianne Ploumen said in a statement.

"We must not let this happen. We need to compensate for this financial blow as much as possible, with a broad-based fund, where governments, businesses and civil society organisations can donate too - so that women can remain in control of their own bodies," Ploumen added.

The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday had said, "The president, it's no secret, has made it very clear that he's a pro-life president. He wants to stand up for all Americans, including the unborn, and I think the reinstatement of this policy is not just something that echoes that value, but respects taxpayer funding as well."

Many pro-choice advocates slammed the US president's move and said that he has turned his anti-women rhetoric into policy through this move.

"Donald Trump has turned his anti-women rhetoric into policy, and made it more difficult for women and families all over the world to access vital reproductive care. He really is living up to the lowest of expectations," NARAL Pro-Choice America's president Ilyse Hogue wrote.

According to the estimates of the World Health Organisation, around 22 million women across the world experience unsafe abortions every year, and the majority of these women come from developing countries.</s>BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium is joining the Netherlands in backing the creation of an international fund to finance access to birth control, abortion and sex education for women in developing countries in an attempt to make up for U.S. President Donald Trump’s ban on U.S. funding.

Alexander De Croo, Belgium’s minister for foreign trade and development, says he is fully behind the initiative of his Dutch counterpart to set up an international fund for safe abortions. De Croo says Wednesday that “this decision of the White House has an immediate impact on the lives of millions of girls and women in developing nations.”

Trump’s executive memorandum signed Monday reinstituted a ban on U.S. funding to international groups that perform abortions or even provide information about abortions.

A day later, The Netherlands said it wanted to set up the fund and invited governments, businesses and social organizations to join in to “compensate for this financial setback.”

The ban on performing or even talking about abortions has been instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984. Former President Barack Obama last lifted it in 2009.

Belgium already has teenage pregnancy programs in Mali and Niger and works with U.N. organizations in Guinea for better family planning.

De Croo insisted Trump would only achieve the opposite of what he wanted.

“Research shows that ending support to these organizations leads to less access to contraceptives. Hence, it increases the numbers of abortions” and often in unsanitary conditions, he said. “The result of the measure is that many teenage girls will be scarred for the rest of their lives, or even lose their lives.”

De Croo’s Dutch counterpart, Lilianne Ploumen, said Trump’s measure would undermine the progress of the last few years.

“We cannot let this happen,” she said.</s>On Tuesday evening, the Netherlands announced it would launch an international fund to help women access abortions around the world.

The move came after President Donald Trump wasted no time in showing where he stood on the issues for which millions of women around the world recently marched. One of his first orders in office was to reinstate a global “gag rule” prohibiting U.S. federal funding for abortion and family planning, stirring cries of outrage and resistance. Now, the Dutch say they will help pay where the United States will not.

Filling that shortfall will be no short order. Dutch officials predict Trump’s new executive order may leave a $600 million gap in foreign aid over the next four years, but others say it could mean up to $9.5 billion in healthcare funding is at stake. Trump’s rule is even more restrictive than the gag rule (also known as the Mexico City Policy) under Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, which prohibited NGOs with any involvement on abortion from receiving U.S. family planning funds. Trump’s executive order expands that rule rule to all global health funding, even those working on other issues like HIV or malaria.

“Obviously, the Netherlands cannot do this by ourselves. We need support,” Lilianne Ploumen, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation who announced the fund, told the BBC.

She said she has been in preliminary talks with almost 20 different countries and received interest from foundations and private citizens about contributing to the initiative. She did not say how much the Dutch government plans to commit.

The Netherlands is known to have some of the world’s most liberal reproductive policy laws, and will likely count on partners in other northern European countries with similarly staunch women’s rights traditions. On the other hand, some European countries, like Poland, have been going through their own abortion-rights battles recently.

While Ploumen plugged the Netherland’s commitment to women’s access to healthcare and equality, the Dutch government steered clear of calling out Trump directly.

“Where decisions are taken that are bad for women in developing countries we should help those women,” Herman van Gelderen, a Dutch Foreign Minister spokesman, said. “It’s not about the politics, it’s about those women.”

The Dutch have had some fun at Trump’s expense. On Monday day, a Dutch television show aired a spoof video explaining the country to the new president in bombastic, Trump-like utterances. Still, there are some issues on which the Dutch don’t sound quite so different from the American president: On Tuesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told immigrants, “act normal or go away.”</s>Fund to support health centres offering abortion services in developing countries after US president cuts NGO financing.

The Netherlands has called for an international fund to support health centres offering abortion services in developing countries, after US President Donald Trump ordered a halt to US government financing.

Trump on Monday signed a decree barring federal funding for foreign NGOs that support abortion, on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalised the practice in the United States.

The restrictions prohibit foreign non-governmental organisations that receive US family planning assistance from using non-US funding to provide abortion services, information, counselling or referrals.

They are also barred from campaigning to promote abortion.

READ MORE: Trump withdraws US from Trans-Pacific Partnership deal

Lilianne Ploumen, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, said the Netherlands must do everything in its power to offset the ban, so "women can remain in control of their own bodies".

"We have to compensate this financial setback as much as possible with a well-financed fund, in which governments, businesses, and social organisations will be able to donate," Ploumen said in a statement released late on Tuesday.

She added that "banning abortion leads not to fewer abortions, but to more irresponsible practices in back rooms and higher rates of maternal mortality."

Ploumen specifically mentioned Marie Stopes International; an organisation that she said will be greatly affected by the loss of funding.

She said that over the next four years, the loss of funding to Marie Stopes will result in 6.5 million unwanted pregnancies, 2.2 million unsafe abortions, and 21,700 unnecessary deaths of mothers.

Dutch support of women's organisations, she said, has prevented 6 million unwanted pregnancies and half a million abortions.

"The US decision threatens to undermine these results," said Ploumen, adding that she was "very disappointed" by the decision. "We cannot let that happen."

Trump's move came only two days after women led a massive protest march in Washington - with satellite rallies across the country and around the world - to defend their rights, including to abortion.</s>To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

The international fund will support health centers providing abortion services and related advice in developing countries after Trump shuts U.S. funding.

Donald Trump on Monday reinstated a ban on American federal funding of foreign health care groups who provide or promote abortion in countries that need these services the most.

To avoid the harmful impact Trump's decision will have on health charities across the world, Netherlands has decided to set up an international safe abortion fund so that "women can remain in control of their own bodies."

Lilianne Ploumen, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, said in a statement that "banning abortion leads not to fewer abortions, but to more irresponsible practices in back rooms and higher rates of maternal mortality," reports Al Jazeera.

"We have to compensate this financial setback as much as possible with a well-financed fund, in which governments, businesses, and social organizations will be able to donate," Ploumen added.

Dutch authorities are trying to secure backing from several countries and foundations to create the fund which aims to bridge the $600 million funding gap created by Trump's decision. Netherlands is currently in talks with around 15-12 countries in Europe, Africa and South America along with several organizations to raise the required money for the fund, reports The Guardian.

The fund will be used to back existing programs being run by organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), the International Planned Parenting Federation and Marie Stopes International.

Ploumen reiterates the importance of the venture saying that if the funding to Marie Stopes International is stopped, that alone will result in 6.5 million unwanted pregnancies, 2.2 million unsafe abortions, and 21,700 unnecessary deaths of mothers over the next four years.

Trump signed the controversial "Mexico City Policy" into effect in his first week as President and only two days after widespread women's rights protests were held not only in the U.S., but in major cities across the globe.

Dutch officials remain confident that the planned fund will not damage their relations with the new U.S. administration. "Where decisions are taken that are bad for women in developing countries we should help those women," Herman van Gelderen, spokesman for the Dutch Foreign Ministry told Reuters. "It's not about the politics, it's about those women."

Meanwhile, Ploumen is confident that the plan will continue to receive support despite her country's upcoming elections. "The Netherlands has a long tradition of standing up for sexual and reproductive rights. I don't see that being a problem," she said.
Belgium supports a plan by Dutch minister Lilianne Ploumen to launch a fund compensating worldwide for the United States' newly-reinstated Mexico City policy.