The U.S. Department of State announced on January 23 that it is expanding the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits foreign aid to groups that promote abortion, to also include groups that promote “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) and transgenderism.
The department released three rules that will implement this expansion. The rules, titled “Combating Gender Ideology in Foreign Assistance,” “Combating Discriminatory Equity Ideology in Foreign Assistance Rules,” and “Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance,” were published in the Federal Register on January 27.
Vice President J.D. Vance celebrated the policy change during his address at this year’s March for Life, stating that “with these additions, the rule will now cover [all] non-military foreign assistance that America sends. All in all, we have expanded the Mexico City Policy about three times as big as it was before.”
The policy, first implemented in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, has been rescinded and reimplemented repeatedly by succeeding Democratic and Republican administrations. President Donald Trump had already expanded the rule in 2017 by having the policy apply to all foreign aid, rather than just aid intended for “family planning.”
Eliminating All Foreign Aid
Although the State Department’s expansion of the Mexico City Policy is a welcome development, we must not forget that all foreign aid is unconstitutional, not being among Congress’ enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Rather than defunding only groups that promote an anti-American, leftist, or globalist agenda, Congress and the president should eliminate all such aid. Call your U.S. representative and senators, and urge them to end foreign aid and restore strict adherence to the Constitution.
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