Boozman Asks Obama Not To Rescind Mexico City Policy

Press Release

On Friday, January 23, President Obama issued an Executive Order overturning the pro-life policy known as the Mexico City Policy. One week before, Congressman Boozman signed onto a bi-partisan letter with 77 other members of Congress asking President Obama not to rescind the Mexico City Policy.

The following is a portion of the letter:

As a new administration begins, it is our hope you will work, as you have pledged, to create a new era of bi-partisan cooperation. We urge you to continue the Mexico City Policy, which separates abortion and family planning in America's foreign aid program.

Based on a document posted on your transition website, proponents of abortion are calling for you to overturn Mexico City Policy. However, we urge you to retain this significant position. First developed in the Reagan Administration, this policy is important because it establishes a bright line between family planning activities and abortion, therefore ensuring that United States family planning funds are not co-opted by groups who promote abortion as a method of family planning. Such activities would send a wrong message overseas that the United State promotes abortion.

Under Mexico City Policy, funding for family planning is not reduced by one penny. A policy against promoting abortion is only "anti-family planning" if one assumes that abortion itself is a method of "family planning." This policy simply ensures that taxpayer money is not used overseas to fund highly controversial abortion providers.

We also have a responsibility to respect the laws of many developing countries who have laws prohibiting or restricting abortion. It is an insult to fund organizations that are intent on overturning those laws by promoting the Western ideology of abortion on demand. We hope you would agree the last thing the United States would intend to do in our assistance would be to insult national sovereignty which respects the dignity of life or destabilize the rule of law in countries striving to move toward progress.

In these difficult economic times, the American people would not want us funding groups that are trying to export abortion around the world.

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