Trump reinstates Republican abortion gag rule for overseas NGOs

In a widely expected move, President Donald Trump capped off the anti-abortion March for Life celebrations by reinstating the so-called "Mexico City Rule," an abortion restriction that has been in place under every Republican president since the Ronald Reagan administration, The New York Times reported Friday.

The rule is an expansion of existing federal law that bans direct funding of abortion care. Under the Mexico City Rule, often known by critics as the "global gag rule," federal funding also cannot go to any overseas nongovernmental organization that provides abortions, even if the funding itself is for something other than abortion — and the ban also extends to groups that simply advocate or inform people on abortion care.

"In the four decades since [Reagan first enacted it], the policy has had a seesaw history," noted Sheryl Gay Stolberg. "Democratic presidents, including Joseph R. Biden Jr., have revoked it and Republicans have reinstated it. It has been in effect for 21 of the past 40 years."

Trump had the policy in place for his first term as well.

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This comes at a critical moment, as Trump seeks to reassure anti-abortion activists their policies will still hold sway in his government.

Trump appointed the Supreme Court justices who provided the majority to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to enact total bans of the procedure. However, in response to a widespread public backlash that saw the GOP underperform expectations in the 2022 midterm elections, Trump sought to at least rhetorically take a middle ground on the issue, saying he would not sign federal legislation to ban abortion in states that continue to protect the right.

Moreover, he angered some anti-abortion groups by nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services, who, while he embraces a number of conspiracy theories on vaccines and public health, is a former Democrat who has frequently supported abortion rights himself. Trump followed this up by nominating several more conventional right-wing policymakers to positions within HHS, which some speculate was a move to assure his supporters that Kennedy's more liberal views would be kept in check.