Sen. Shaheen Statement on Trump Administration’s Drastic Expansion of the Mexico City Policy

WASHINGTON, May 15 -- The office of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., issued the following news release:

U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the only woman on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement after learning that President Trump's expanded Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule, will apply to $8.8 billion in U.S. foreign aid across the State Department, USAID, and the Department of Defense. Under previous Republican administrations, the policy applied to $600 million in aid. The administration also rebranded the Mexico City Policy to become the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy. The Mexico City Policy bans federal funds for international non-governmental organizations that provide information about abortion or abortion services as part of comprehensive family planning services.

"Today, the Trump administration confirmed our worst fears regarding this new, drastically expanded global gag executive order," said Shaheen. "This administration's pathetic rebranding of this policy ‎is a thinly-veiled attempt to hide the tremendous harm it has around the world. President Trump's dangerous obsession with rolling back reproductive rights has severe consequences for millions of vulnerable women and children, and grossly undermines our nation's humanitarian leadership around the globe."

"We know that when family planning services and contraceptives are easily accessible, there are fewer unplanned pregnancies, maternal deaths, and abortions. Yet the Trump administration has chosen to ignore decades of research in favor of an ideological crusade that cuts off vital family planning services. President Trump's actions have already had a chilling effect on international humanitarian efforts, preventing cooperation on a wide range of life-saving work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, Zika and other preventable diseases. Today's announcement underscores the need for Congress to pass my bipartisan Global HER Act to repeal this global gag policy once and for all."

Shaheen introduced the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (HER) Act, which would permanently repeal the harmful policy, in January following President Trump's executive order.