The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to permanently ban the Mexico City Policy, which had kept U.S. tax dollars from going to promote or provide abortions overseas since the mid-‘80s.
The amendment, offered by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., passed by a vote of 17-11 and now gives the executive order signed by President Barack Obama reversing the Mexico City policy the force of law.
Republicans in the Senate are upset with the move, saying it endangers the foreign-aid bill that has enjoyed bipartisan support.
“It is just going to create a really big fight,” Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., told The Associated Press.
President Ronald Reagan was the first to ban tax dollars from funding international family planning groups that provide abortions, information, counseling or referrals about abortion, in what became known as the Mexico City Policy. President George W. Bush reinstated the measure during his term after President Bill Clinton reversed the policy.
— Kim Trobee
