WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is expanding its ban on U.S. foreign aid for groups supporting abortion services to include assistance going to international and domestic organizations and agencies that promote gender identity as well as diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
An administration official said Thursday that the State Department would release final rules that expand the scope of the “Mexico City” policy that has already severely reduced assistance to international organizations that provide abortion-related care. The policy was first established under President Ronald Reagan but rescinded by subsequent Democratic administrations.
The new rules, first reported by Fox News, would halt foreign assistance from going toward not only groups that provide abortion as a method of family planning but also those that advocate “gender ideology” and DEI, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the rules’ publication in the Federal Register on Friday.
The official said the expanded policy would apply to more than $30 billion in foreign aid that the U.S. provides and would cover not only foreign and U.S.-based aid agencies but international organizations.
“The Trump administration’s expanded global gag rule puts politics between people and their care around the world,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “Simply put, the White House is putting medically necessary health care at risk for people around the world in service to a political agenda.”
It was not immediately clear what the impact of the expansion would be. The Trump administration has already slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid and dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had been the main provider of U.S. assistance.
The move is timed to coincide with the anniversary of the now-overturned Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling and the annual March for Life demonstration by anti-abortion advocates.
“There’s likely to be tens of billions of dollars that will be affected by this policy change, many more billions than in any prior period,” said Jen Kates, senior vice president and director of the Global and Public Health Policy Program at the health care research nonprofit KFF.
The White House reposted a Fox News article on X seemingly confirming the plans, but did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.