Mexico City Policy
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The Mexico City Policy, named for the place of the population conference where it was announced, was instituted by United States President Ronald Reagan in 1984 to make the issue of abortion a condition for providing funds from the US foreign aid agency USAID.
Called the "global gag rule" by opponents, it required "nongovernmental organizations to agree as a condition of their receipt of Federal funds that such organizations would neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations." This policy forced NGOs to quickly decide whether to forgo often substantial funding from USAID or change their operations. The London-based International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) refused to change their stance and lost more than 20% of its funding. Other reproductive health organizations including the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia and the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia likewise refused changes to match American policies, with even greater funding cuts as a result.[citation needed] Romanian and Colombian NGOs were among those that relented, deciding they could not give up US aid.
This policy was in effect until it was rescinded on January 22, 1993 by President Bill Clinton on his first working day as President.
It was likewise reinstated January 22, 2001, the first day of President George W. Bush's term with the comment, "It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion, either here or abroad. It is therefore my belief that the Mexico City Policy should be restored."
The gag rule has been criticized for cutting off funding to the crucial and sometimes sole health agencies in many regions. Additionally, critics dispute the effectiveness of the Mexico City policy in reducing abortions in the affected countries. Some of these critics go so far as to speculate that it may have even increased unwanted pregnancies and thus abortion rates in many countries denied USAID-donated condoms.
The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief is excluded from the Mexico City Policy.[1]
The Sandbaek Report of the European Union, which calls for the funding of the UNFPA was seen by some Catholic commentators as a contrast to the Mexico City Policy.[2]
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[edit] In Popular Media
The David E. Kelley television show Boston Legal featured a case in an episode premiering on Tuesday, May 9, 2006, in which Denny Crane (William Shatner) represented the United States in a case involving withdrawal of USAID after a poster was misinterpreted in a Nepal clinic, causing a woman in need of medical attention to hemorrhage and lose her son before he was born.
