“American taxpayer dollars will not be used to underwrite abortions,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in briefing from the State Department Tuesday.

Pompeo made two announcements Tuesday morning concerning the State Department’s efforts to make sure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used to either subsidize or promote abortions.

“This Administration has shown that we can continue to meet our global health goals while refusing to subsidize the killing of unborn babies.”

No More Funding Abortions Through Back-Door Schemes

The first announcement expands the Mexico City Policy. This Reagan-era pro-life policy decreed U.S. tax payer dollars would no longer fund non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that performed or actively promoted abortion as a method of family planning.

Several U.S. presidents have rescinded and reinstated the Mexico City Policy since Reagan signed it in 1984. Bill Clinton revoked it in 1993. George W. Bush reinstated it in 2001. Barack Obama rescinded it in 2009. Most recently, President Trump reinstated and expanded it in 2017.

Pompeo’s announcement enforces the Mexico City Policy more broadly. As before, the U.S. State Department will refuse to work with any foreign NGO engaged in the abortion business. Now, it will also refuse to fund foreign NGOs that give money to other foreign NGOs engaged in the international abortion industry. This will prevent foreign NGOs from channeling U.S. money to organizations that perform or promote abortion.

“We will enforce a strict prohibition on back-door funding schemes and end runs around our policy,” Pompeo said.

“This is decent, this is right, and I’m proud to serve in an administration that protects the least amongst us.”

No More Funding of Abortion-Related Lobbying

Pompeo’s second announcement broadens enforcement of a law which says U.S. funds can not go towards abortion lobbying — either for or against abortion. This law, known as the Siljander Ammendement, was first passed in 1981. However, Pompeo said that “recent evidence” shows abortion-related advocacy by an arm of the Organization of American States. U.S. funds go towards the Organization of American States (OAS). The OAS is an organization of the countries of the American continent.

Pompeo said that the State Department will no longer fund the organs of the OAS that have allowed for abortion lobbying. These organs are the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and Inter-American Commission on Women (IACW).

“The institutions of the U.S. should be focused on addressing crises in Cuba, Nicaragua, and in Venezuela, not in advancing the pro-abortion cause,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo added that “to ensure that our message is heard loud and clear,” the State Department will reduce U.S. contributions to the OAS. “Our reduction equals the estimated U.S. share of possible OAS expenditures on these abortion-related activities.”

“The American people should rest assured that this administration and this State Department and our USAID will do all we can to safeguard U.S. taxpayer dollars and protect and respect the sanctity of life for people all around the globe,” Pompeo concluded.

First Time in 35 Years

“Implementing the Siljander Amendment is massive because it applies to all foreign assistance funds,” Personhood Alliance president Gualberto Garcia Jones, Esq., told LifeSiteNews. The Siljander Amendment applies not only to NGOs, but also to multi-lateral organizations like the U.N. and OAS. Jones said it is the first time the Siljander Amendment will have been implemented in 35 years.

Watch Pompeo’s press briefing: