Human Rights Groups Condemn Trump's Expansion of 'Disastrous' Abortion Policy
Human rights organisations and international charities have launched fierce criticism against the Trump administration's decision to substantially broaden the controversial Mexico City policy, which restricts organisations receiving US funding from performing or promoting abortion services. The move has been described by campaigners as a "disastrous and deadly" escalation that will have severe global consequences.
Historic Expansion of Global Gag Rule
The policy, known officially as the Mexico City policy but referred to by critics as the "global gag rule," has been reinstated and dramatically expanded under President Donald Trump's administration. Vice President JD Vance has proudly characterised this as "a historic expansion of the Mexico City Policy" that will make the policy "about three times as big as it was before."
In a significant development, the expanded policy will now stop US funding to any organisation working on diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) initiatives or transgender issues abroad. This represents a major departure from previous iterations of the policy and has drawn particular concern from human rights advocates.
Human Rights Organisations Voice Grave Concerns
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International's senior director for research, advocacy policy and campaigns, issued a strongly worded statement condemning the expansion. "The expansion of the Global Gag Rule is an assault on human rights," she declared. "By targeting organizations that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and recognise gender diversity, the Trump administration is deliberately deepening inequality and putting the lives of millions around the world at risk."
She further emphasised that "The Global Gag Rule is a disastrous and deadly US policy. It strangles healthcare systems, censors information and violates the rights to health, information, and free expression. Doubling down on this policy is cruel, reckless and ideologically driven. Expanding it to international and US-based organizations will impact the poorest and marginalised first and hardest."
Reproductive Health Organisations Warn of Global Impact
Beth Schlachter, senior director of US external relations at MSI Reproductive Choices, expressed serious concerns about the policy's implications. "Just as the Trump administration has aggressively sought to cripple abortion access at home [in the US], they are now exporting the same playbook worldwide, in a move that will deny women lifesaving care and deepen stigma," she stated.
Schlachter connected this development to broader changes in US foreign aid policy, noting that "This follows the abrupt and deadly withdrawal of US development and humanitarian assistance in 2025, which overnight, decimated decades of trust, disrupted lifesaving services and deprived women and girls of essential healthcare and reproductive choices."
Broader Foreign Aid Restructuring
The expansion of the Mexico City policy forms part of a wider restructuring of US foreign aid under the Trump administration. Alongside reinstating the policy, Trump issued a complete freeze on foreign aid spending upon retaking office, followed by significant aid cuts.
The United States is currently negotiating new funding agreements with African governments that promise aid money in exchange for specific conditions. These range from mining rights and access to valuable patient data to agreements directing national health budgets toward American-dictated priorities. These compacts replace previous health agreements under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has been dismantled.
MSI Reproductive Choices has raised concerns about vague language in these agreements that could allow additional restrictions to be imposed after governments have committed. Sarah Shaw, advocacy director at MSI, previously highlighted this issue, stating: "What's really manipulative about the compacts is not really what they're saying, it's what they're not saying. And there's just lots of loopholes in the language that favour the US government."
Congressional Opposition Mounts
Multiple Congressional caucuses have united in opposition to the policy expansion. In a joint statement, the Congressional Reproductive Freedom Caucus, Congressional Equality Caucus, Democratic Women's Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Asian and Pacific American Caucus, and Congressional Black Caucus condemned the Mexico City policy decision.
Their statement declared: "The [Mexico City] rule currently in place, expanded by Donald Trump, already weaponises US global health assistance against the very people it is meant to help to an unprecedented degree—and to the cost of women and girls' lives and health. We strongly condemn this weaponisation of US foreign assistance to undermine human rights and global health. We will not rest until we ensure that our foreign aid dollars can never be used as a weapon against women, people of color, or LGBT+ people ever again."
The policy expansion represents the latest chapter in a long-standing political tradition, with Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan first introduced the policy in 1984 consistently reinstating it, while Democratic presidents have repeatedly dropped it. The current expansion marks one of the most significant developments in this decades-long policy battle.
