Christian group FamilyVoice Australia has called on Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to follow the lead of US President Donald Trump and remove AusAID funding from organisations that facilitate abortions overseas.
The call follows Mr Trump’s decision to ban the federal funding of organisations that perform or promote abortions overseas through his reinstatement on Monday of what’s known as the ‘Mexico City Policy’ which President Barack Obama has rescinded when he took office in 2009. That move was welcomed by pro-life Christian groups in the US.
In Australia, Ashley Saunders, national director of FamilyVoice, said in a statement that Mr Turnbull “would do well to pay attention to the growing conservative agenda and remove AusAID funding of overseas abortions”.
“Funding spent on abortion is money that is not available for poverty alleviation,” he said. “Killing babies in Third World nations does nothing to address the causes of hardship in poor countries. It’s time Australia ceased funding overseas abortion.”
The ‘Mexico City Policy’ was first implemented in the US by President Reagan at a 1984 conference held in Mexico City. It means that NGOs that offer or promote abortions as part of their family planning services will be prevented from receiving any assistance from the US Agency for International Development.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters this week that President Trump had made it “very clear” he was pro-life. “He wants to stand up for all Americans, including the unborn, and I think the reinstatement of this policy is not just something that echoes that value, but respects taxpayer funding as well,” he said.
