The Trump administration will expand the "Mexico City" policy that restricts U.S. aid to foreign organizations that provide or promote abortions to include advocates of "radical gender ideologies" and diversity, equity and inclusion policies, Vice President JD Vance announced Friday at the March for Life.
"Now we're expanding this policy to protect life, to combat DEI and the radical gender ideologies that prey on our children," Vance told the crowd in Washington, D.C.
Vance added that the Mexico City policy was being increased to "about three times as big as it was before, and we're proud of it, because we believe in fighting for life."
The State Department is releasing three final rules Friday expanding the policy to block foreign assistance from subsidizing “gender ideology, discriminatory equity ideology / DEI and abortion as a method of family planning,” a spokesperson for the department told NBC News in a statement.
The spokesperson added that the change will expand the policy to apply not only to foreign nongovernmental organizations, but also to international organizations and domestic NGOs. The expansion will affect more than $30 billion in foreign assistance, the spokesperson said.
The White House did not immediately respond to an email from NBC News seeking President Donald Trump’s comment on the new policy and when it will take effect. In a news release Friday outlining recent steps taken by the administration on abortion, the White House highlighted the expansion of the Mexico City policy, saying that the Trump administration "remains steadfast in its commitment to the pro-life cause."
The Mexico City policy, which has been referred to as the "global gag rule" by pro-abortion-rights groups, already blocked U.S. funds from going to foreign organizations that provide, counsel or refer patients for abortion services in their own countries, even if the activities are lawful and supported entirely with non-U.S. funds.
The policy was first implemented by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 at a United Nations conference in Mexico City to prevent U.S. foreign aid from being used to promote abortion in other nations.
The funding restriction has been rescinded by Democratic presidents since it was implemented and reinstated by Republican presidents, most recently when Trump returned to office in January of last year.
Trump addressed the crowd of anti-abortion attendees of the march in a prerecorded video ahead of Vance's remarks.
"We’re bringing back faith in America," Trump said in the video. "We’re bringing back God. We have stopped forced taxpayer funding of abortion at home and abroad."
Rachana Desai Martin, chief U.S. program officer for the Center for Reproductive Rights, condemned the new policy in a statement, calling it "a stunning abdication of basic human decency."
"President Trump and his anti-abortion administration would rather let people starve to death in the wake of famine and war than let anyone in the world get an abortion — or even receive information about it," Desai Martin said. "People are already dying because of this administration’s slashing of foreign assistance. Now, they’re making it harder for doctors and aid workers to provide food, water, and lifesaving medical care."
