The Netherlands dedicated $10 million to pay for abortions internationally last week after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting U.S. taxpayer funding to groups that promote or perform abortions overseas.
Lawmakers in the Netherlands — one of the few countries where the barbaric practice of child euthanasia is legal, in addition to abortion – proposed the creation of a new global abortion fund to make up for the money the U.S. no longer will provide.
Reuters reports the Netherlands government dedicated $10 million to the fund and is asking other countries to do the same. So far, two other countries, Denmark and Canada, have been named as possible participants in the global abortion fund.
Here’s more from the report:
Dutch officials estimate that the U.S. ban, which was condemned by women’s rights and health campaigners, will cause a funding shortfall of $600 million over the next four years. Campaigners say that will endanger women’s lives.
Liliane Ploumen, Dutch minister for international development cooperation, said she was confident after early discussions that fundraising would go a long way toward plugging the gap.
“Of course more money is needed,” Ploumen said. “According to the signals we have been getting I am confident we will go far. The Dutch have not named other possible donor countries, but Canada has said it is considering contributing.
Last week, the Dutch government held a meeting with other European Union members to discuss the abortion fund, according to the report.
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As LifeNews.com reported, the Mexico City Policy, which Trump reinstated on Jan. 23 by executive order, also was in place during the entirety of the George W. Bush administration. President Barack Obama rescinded it during his first week in office.
Named for a 1984 population conference where President Ronald Reagan initially announced it, the Mexico City Policy made it so family planning funds could go only to groups that agree to not do abortions or lobby foreign nations to overturn their pro-life laws.
The policy does not stop non-abortion international assistance. It ensures U.S. foreign aid will continue to go to health care and humanitarian relief in the millions of dollars. It just will not subsidize abortion overseas.
When Trump signed the order to restore the policy, pro-life advocates were delighted that the International Planned Parenthood, Marie Stopes International and other abortion groups would no longer receive taxpayer dollars to promote or perform abortions.
Further analysis of Trump’s executive order confirms that the president also defunded the pro-abortion United Nations agency.
Trump updated the Mexico City Policy by directing the Secretary of State to implement a plan that expands the policy across all global health assistance funding. This means taxpayer dollars will not support organizations that promote or participate in the management of a coercive abortion program — like China’s two-child policy that includes forced abortions.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), for example, is one such organization with a long history of supporting China’s population control regime.
