Cardinal Timothy Dolan The US bishops have praised signs of progress against ‘abortion ideology’, in response to a State Department report on new limits to US funding for groups involved in abortion.
“Abortion undermines basic human rights, certainly for the child, and it also can wound the mother emotionally and physically,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said.
“US tax dollars have no business going to organisations that are unwilling to pursue health outcomes for every person and instead insist on promoting and imposing their abortion ideology on women and children.”
Cardinal Dolan, speaking in his role as chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said: “I again applaud this administration for restoring our foreign assistance to its rightful goals of promoting health and human rights.”
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The report from the US State Department’s Office of US Foreign Assistance Resources is a six-month review of the implementation of the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy, an expanded version of the Mexico City Policy.
The original policy, first instituted under President Ronald Reagan in 1984, directs US overseas family planning funding away from organisations that perform or support abortions overseas.
The report is early evidence that the “vast majority” of NGOs are “willing and able to comply with this policy and that compliance does not appear to undermine delivery of appropriate health services,” said the cardinal.
President Donald Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy on January 23, 2017, then ordered Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to extend the policy to other forms of monetary aid, like global health assistance, provided by all US departments or agencies.