Trump targets abortion access at home and abroad
President Donald Trump took aim at abortion access in the United States and overseas on Friday, after promising activists rallying in Washington that he would protect the "historic gains" of the anti-abortion movement.
Trump revoked two executive orders signed by Joe Biden protecting abortion access, which the former president put in place after the Supreme Court's seismic decision to overturn the constitutional right to the procedure in 2022.
Biden had moved to protect access to abortion pills and women's ability to travel to states where the procedure is not banned for care, among other things.
But Trump — who has been enthusiastically backed by the self-described "pro-life" movement — undid those protections with his own order on Friday.
He also cut off US funding to foreign civil society groups that provide abortion services, and put the United States back into an international statement opposing abortion rights.
A White House memo issued on Friday reinstated the so-called Mexico City Policy — known by critics as the "global gag rule" — which bars foreign NGOs from using American aid to support abortion services or advocacy.
The policy, first instituted by Ronald Reagan in 1984, has been implemented by every Republican administration since, and rescinded by every Democrat in the White House.
Separately, the Trump administration announced it would rejoin the "Geneva Consensus Declaration", a 2020 statement of countries saying they hope to "protect life at all stages."
The original statement was spearheaded by Trump's then secretary of state Mike Pompeo, an evangelical Christian, but rejected by Biden.
Those moves "are direct assaults on the health and human rights of millions of people around the world", Rachana Desai Martin of the Centre for Reproductive Rights said in a statement.
Biden had signed two orders following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn abortion rights.
His July 2022 order aimed to expand access to emergency contraception and protect women's health data, pushing back against any attempts at digital surveillance.
The order responded to concern that women's data such as their geolocation and apps that monitor their menstrual cycles could be used to go after those who have had abortions.
The July order also sought to protect mobile clinics deployed to the borders of states that have banned abortion.
Trump rescinded that, as well as Biden's August 2022 order that aimed to help women travel out of state to access abortion services.
The moves are part of a flurry of orders Trump has issued since returning to the Oval Office shoring up his right-wing agenda.
Earlier, Trump had addressed the Washington rally, the 52nd annual March for Life on the National Mall, which also featured masked neo-Nazis.
"In my second term, we will again stand proudly for families and for life," Trump said in a pre-taped video message broadcast to the crowd.
Trump, who was touring natural disaster zones in North Carolina and California, vowed to "protect the historic gains" made by the anti-abortion movement.
At least 100 members of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, marched in military style to the sidelines of the rally and stood in columns holding US flags, Christian symbols and banners reading "Strong families make strong nations."
Their leader Thomas Rousseau — flanked by two men with white bandanas covering their faces — told AFP he believed in "patriotic principles", including the "restitution of the American family unit".
Some rally attendees were angered by the group's presence.
Trump has touted himself as the "most pro-life president ever" and in 2020 became the first sitting commander-in-chief to attend the March for Life.
But he has a spotty record on the issue and refused to back a federal ban during his election campaign.
"Praise God for President Trump. He's not our Saviour, though," said David Makovey, who flew from California for the march.
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