I can admit we kinda’ got hosed on that whole religious liberty executive order last week. It was a press conference in search of news. But he did get Gorsuch on the high court so maybe all that comes out in the wash. That’s where these religious liberty issues will really be decided anyway.
But no matter what, Trump is doing some strong work on limiting funding for abortion. He already made it so that states can defund Planned Parenthood. And he’s said he’ll sign the federal defunding of Planned Parenthood if the House and Senate can stand strong. And you might recall that Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy. But it turns out he didn’t only reverse it, he expanded it.
In the past, the Mexico City Policy has prevented foreign NGOs who perform or promote abortion from receiving U.S. taxpayer dollars. Trump’s policy applies not only to family planning funding, but to ALL foreign global health assistance.
So, get this, instead of applying to roughly $500-$600 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars, the policy now protects approximately $8.8 billion in funding from going to foreign NGOs that perform or promote abortion. So yeah, we have officially ceased exporting abortion with our money.
Hardest hit? Marie Stopes International. And remember a good rule of thumb. If Marie Stopes doesn’t like it, it’s probably good. And they are reaalllly not happy with this. On their website, they say, “Marie Stopes International knows that safe abortion is a vital component of women’s reproductive healthcare, and therefore we cannot agree to these conditions. As a result, our organisation will be prohibited from receiving any new funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) so long as the Executive Order is in place.”
I love how they say they can’t agree with those conditions. What does that even mean? Seems to me that not getting money from the U.S. government isn’t really dependent on your agreement.
On the other hand, when the SBA List is happy I usually am. SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser said:
“Votes in America have international consequences. The Executive Memorandum implemented today is one of the reasons pro-life voters worked to elect Donald Trump to the White House. With the implementation of Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance, we have officially ceased exporting abortion to foreign nations. No longer will we undermine the pro-life laws and cultural commitments of other countries by funding organizations like Marie Stopes International that obsessively promote and perform abortion. By modernizing this important policy and expanding it to include $8.8 billion in foreign aid, President Trump is continuing Ronald Reagan’s pro-life legacy. This executive order does not cut a single penny from U.S. aid, rather it simply ensures our hard-earned tax dollars are used by other health care entities that act consistently to save lives, rather than promoting and performing abortion. Abortion is not health care.”
So the good news here is evident.
You want to know the most amazing thing though? The ire of the mainstream media is so pitched and insane that they’re all consumed with these secret recordings and the Comey firing and the fact that Mika and Joe said Kellyanne doesn’t like Trump that they’re not even outraged and screaming about this. Could you imagine any other president doing this and it NOT being on the front page? Think about it, the House passed a bill defunding Planned Parenthood and the Senate might just follow suit. And it’s not even the third most talked about issue or even the fourth. The media is acting like a cat chasing a laser pointer. The laser pointer in this metaphor is usually Trump’s twitter feed.
So in short, Marie Stopes mad. SBA List happy. Media irate. And Trump a very effective president on the issue of abortion (so far.)
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