Last week, President Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy and enforced the Hyde Amendment through executive orders.  The Mexico City Policy, which was instituted in 1984, has been rescinded and reinstated by the past several administrations.  This policy, along with the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance, requires that foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) agree, as a condition of their receipt of U.S. federal grant money, neither to perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning overseas.  These policies affect billions of dollars that go toward programs overseas.

Rep Chris Smith (NJ-04), Co-Chairman of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, stated that “by redirecting taxpayer dollars away from the abortion industry, President Trump has re-instituted a life-affirming protection consistent with the political consensus that taxpayer dollars should not fund abortion and the abortion industry.”

The Hyde Amendment, first passed by Congress in 1976, protects all federal funds appropriated through the Labor HHS Appropriations bill (programs like Medicaid) from being used to fund elective abortion or health plans that include elective abortion.

Send a message to President Trump thanking him for reinstating and supporting life-affirming policies in the U.S. and overseas.

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Unfortunately, in Congress there was not the same show of support for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. This measure would require healthcare professionals to offer the same level of medical care to children born alive after a failed abortion as would be appropriate for a premature baby born at the same age.  

Nearing the day of the March for Life (and on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade), both the House of Representatives and the Senate had taken up the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.  The House passed the bill 217-204.  In the Senate, those who supported the bill had to invoke a vote on a cloture motion to proceed in order to overcome a filibuster.  Supporters of the bill needed 60 votes (or 3/5 super majority) to proceed to a final vote. The cloture vote, 52-47 in favor of proceeding, failed to reach the needed 60 vote mark. 

Please send messages to your senators and to your representative either thanking them for their vote or expressing your disappointment in their “no” vote by reminding them that life in and outside the womb deserves protection. The system will automatically select the correct message based on how they voted.