President Trump bans federal funding for abortion

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed a
decree barring US federal funding for foreign
NGOs that support abortion, relaunching a battle
that has long divided Americans.
It comes just two days after women led a
massive protest march in Washington to defend
their rights, including to abortion.
The decision to ban foreign aid to groups that
lobby in support of abortion rights is certain to
deepen concern among already apprehensive US
family planning and women’s rights
organizations.
Stenny Hoyer, a Democratic leader in the House
of Representatives, sharply criticized Trump for
using his first week in office “to attack women’s
health.”
Trump
“It should be no surprise to the millions of
women and men who gathered in protest this
weekend across the country –- and around the
world –- that Republicans are focused more on
making it harder for women to access health
care than on the serious economic and security
challenges we face.”
The restrictions imposed Monday prohibit foreign
nongovernmental organizations that receive US
family planning assistance from using non-US
funding to provide abortion services, information,
counseling or referrals and from engaging in
advocacy to promote abortion.
They were first put in place in 1984 by
Republican president Ronald Reagan.
Later eliminated by Democratic president Bill
Clinton, they were reinstalled by his Republican
successor George W. Bush, and annulled again
after Barack Obama took office.
Galvanized by Trump’s November 8 election,
abortion opponents in states where Republicans
hold power moved swiftly last month to adopt
draconian anti-abortion measures that in some
cases pose challenges to constitutional liberties.
The new president, meanwhile, has pledged to
nominate an anti-abortion justice to the
Supreme Court, which could lead to overturning
Roe v. Wade, the emblematic ruling that
legalized abortion in the United States in 1973.