Published on January 24, 2025
This presidential action reinstates the Mexico City Policy by revoking a 2021 memorandum and reverting to a 2017 version, directing the implementation of restrictions on global health assistance funding. The policy specifically prohibits U.S. taxpayer dollars from supporting organizations involved in abortion or involuntary sterilization programs, with implementation oversight given to the Secretaries of State and Health and Human Services.
The action's broad language regarding "global health assistance furnished by all departments or agencies" could be used to expand control over international aid beyond its stated scope, potentially serving as a mechanism for diplomatic leverage. The deliberate inclusion of the phrase "to the extent allowable by law" creates strategic ambiguity that could be exploited to selectively enforce these restrictions based on political or diplomatic objectives rather than health concerns.
While presented as a measure to protect against coercive medical practices and ensure responsible use of taxpayer funds, this policy could effectively serve as a tool for exerting broader control over international aid distribution and foreign relations. The action's careful legal framing and broad scope suggest it may be designed to create a flexible framework for implementing varying degrees of funding restrictions based on political considerations rather than purely humanitarian concerns.
01/24/25 SUBJECT: The Mexico City Policy I hereby revoke the Presidential Memorandum of January 28, 2021, for the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad), and reinstate the Presidential Memorandum of January 23, 2017, for the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (The Mexico City Policy). I direct the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to the extent allowable by law, to implement a plan to extend the requirements of the reinstated Memorandum to global health assistance furnished by all departments or agencies. I further direct the Secretary of State to take all necessary actions, to the extent permitted by law, to ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars do not fund organizations or programs that support or participate in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization. This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.