Report: Planned Parenthood refused to stop promoting abortion overseas to get U.S. aid money

Planned Parenthood was reportedly one of four international organizations that have refused to comply with a new policy required charities to stop promoting or providing abortions overseas in order to continue receiving U.S. tax dollars.

In January 2017, President Donald Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy, now called the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA), which prohibits international aid groups from receiving taxpayer money if they promote or perform abortions overseas.

A new report issued by the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday has revealed that 729 of 733 organizations were willing to provide aid overseas without promoting or providing abortions, a compliance rate of 99.5 percent.

Among the groups that refused to comply with the policy were International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International. The names of the two other groups have not been disclosed, according to Life Site News.

"We could never agree to its conditions," Marie Stopes International said in a statement, adding, "we now face a $30 million annual funding gap...From 2018, many of our programs are facing a cliff-edge, and the gap will only continue to grow."

The Mexico City Policy, which was initially implemented under President Ronald Reagan, was rescinded by Bill Clinton in 1993. It was reinstated by George W. Bush, but Obama rescinded it again during his first week in office.

The State Department noted that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had created a team in Washington "with representatives from across the Agency to oversee the proper implementation of the policy."

As part of the implementation of the policy, a total of $8.8 billion in funds were appropriated for global health assistance through Department of State, USAID, and the Department of Defense, according to the report. The State Department noted that the new policy had been applied to 733 awards and out of the four groups that refused to comply, three had previously received funds through USAID.

The report went on to note that the PLGHA has been praised by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as "one of the most significant policy initiatives on abortion ever taken by the United States in an area of foreign assistance."

"With less than six months of policy implementation, it is too early to assess the full range of benefits and challenges of the PLGHA policy for global health assistance," the State Department said.

Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser had commended the Trump administration for funding groups that do not perform abortions.

"The overwhelming 99.5% compliance rate shows that the dire prognostications of abortion advocates have not come true. Only a tiny minority of extreme pro-abortion groups have stubbornly refused to put the wellbeing of all women ahead of their agenda," Dannenfelser said.

SBA List has reported that International Planned Parenthood had performed more than 1 million abortions in 2016, and had received over $27 million in U.S. government grants in 2015 to 2016.