Ending Abortion Funding

Good News on the Pro-Life Front!  By Tim Wildmon, 1/25/17

Thanks for taking action on HR7. Because of your efforts, the bill banning federal funding of abortion passed. Below are a few other pro-life related issues AFA has taken action on and is working on. We'll be sending you more information on these issues when your help is needed.

Mexico City Policy, January 23, 2017. On this day, President Donald Trump reinstated the pro-life Mexico City Policy. It was first signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, but was rescinded by President Barack Obama in 2009.

This policy prohibits overseas, non-governmental organizations, such as International Planned Parenthood, from receiving U.S. funds to provide or promote abortion. The policy also directs the Secretary of State to work with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to apply this prohibition to all global health assistance funding. This would apply, for example, to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) that has supported coerced abortions under China's one-child-per-family program.

No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7), January 24, 2017. Congress passed H.R. 7, a bill that made the Hyde Amendment (the federal ban on funding of abortion) and other current abortion funding prohibitions permanent and government-wide. The Hyde Amendment has historically been attached annually to appropriation bills, but H.R. 7 will make the Hyde Amendment permanent.

The bill will also ensure that Obamacare will faithfully conform to the Hyde Amendment while Congress works to repeal and replace Obamacare. H.R. 7 also requires full disclosure, transparency, and the prominent display of the extent to which any health insurance plan on the healthcare exchange funds abortion.

March for Life, January 27, 2017. Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, will speak at the 44th annual March for Life on Friday with the theme, "The Power of One." March for Life states, "One person can make a difference in the world, whether in the life of one person or many. Sadly, in the U.S. alone, more than 1 million babies are not even given the opportunity to live and change the world each year. Building a culture of life and ending abortion takes each and every person. Starting with your family or neighborhood, our collective efforts will change hearts and minds, save lives, and build a culture of life." Ms. Conway is expected to reinforce this theme in her speech.

Defund Planned Parenthood, February-March, 2017. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives is expected to pass a bill later this year, likely in late February or March, that will include language to terminate mandated funding of Planned Parenthood. President Trump campaigned on the promise to end the federal funding of Planned Parenthood and is expected to sign the bill upon passage.

Tim Wildmon, President, American Family Association