Jan 24, 2025 - Health

Trump reinstates "Mexico City" policy on abortion

Maya Goldman

A close-up shot of Donald Trump speaking into a microphone — US President Donald Trump speaks as he surveys recovery efforts in a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on January 24, 2025. Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images.

President Trump will reinstate a policy cutting off U.S. global health funding to international organizations that provide legal abortion information, referrals or services, the White House wrote in a memo released on Friday.

Why it matters: Trump will expand the so-called Mexico City policy, which critics refer to as a global gag rule.

Former President Ronald Reagan first enacted the policy in 1984. Each Democratic president has rescinded the rule upon entering office, and each Republican president has reinstated it.

The gag rule has negatively affected global health care systems beyond family planning, according to a 2019 review of existing research on the policy.

Only a handful of studies actually examined the rule's impact on abortion rates, and those three papers concluded that the policy does not decrease abortion rates, per the scope review.

Add Axios on Google

Trump reinstates "Mexico City" policy on abortion

What to read next