The Mexico City Policy: A Short History

1984: President Ronald Reagan passed the Mexico City Policy. The Policy required nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 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.

1993: President William Clinton rescinded the Mexico City Policy on January 22, with the “Memorandum for the Acting Administrator of the Agency for International Development, Subject: AID Family Planning Grants/Mexico City Policy”

2001: President George Bush, on January 19, reinstated the Mexico City Policy stating:

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. Accordingly, I hereby rescind the “Memorandum for the Acting Administrator of the Agency for International Development, Subject: AID Family Planning Grants/Mexico City Po1icy,” dated January 22, 1993, and I direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to reinstate in full all of the requirements of the Mexico City Policy in effect on January 19, 1993.

Source: The White House, George W. Bush, Memorandum, January 22, 2001, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relases/20010123-5.html

2009: President Barack Obama rescinded the Mexico City Policy on January 23, with the “Memorandum for the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. Subject: Mexico City Policy and Assistance for Voluntary Population Planning.”

Source: The White House, Barack Obama, Memorandum, January 23, 2009, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-barack-obama-rescinding-mexico-city-policy

2017: President Donald Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy on January 23, 2017.

Source: The White House, Donald Trump, Memorandum, January 23, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/23/presidential-memorandum-regarding-mexico-city-policy

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