Kenyan Clinic Rejects Trump Abortion Policy, Loses $2 Million In U.S. Aid
On Jan. 23, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order that bans U.S. aid to any health organization in another country that provides, advocates or makes referrals for abortions.
The full impact of the order won't be felt until September. That's when the U.S. government fiscal year comes to an end. At that point, every international organization that does not comply with the order will be excluded from U.S. funding, says Marjorie Newman-Williams, president of Marie Stopes International, an organization that provides contraception and safe abortion in dozens of countries.
But health groups that aren't complying with the policy are already feeling the effects. The U.S. has pulled the plug on funds that had been previously allocated but not yet spent prior to the Trump order. "Marie Stopes can talk about its own sad stories of programs that have had to close," says Newman-Williams. Its outreach services, which were funded by USAID in countries like Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Madagascar, Pakistan and Myanmar, have already stopped, she says.
That's the case for Family Health Options Kenya, Kenya's oldest provider of sexual and reproductive health services. FHOK disagreed with the terms of the "Mexico City" policy, which has been reinstated by every Republican president since Ronald Reagan first issued it.
Read more: http://kanw.com/post/kenyan-clinic-rejects-trump-abortion-policy-loses-2-million-us-aid
