The Dutch government is calling for an international fund for
abortion and contraception. The move comes in reaction to President Donald Trump's executive order Monday reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which would withdraw all federal money from international organizations that promote abortion.
Lilianne Ploumen, minister for foreign trade and development for the Netherlands, made the announcement Tuesday, expressing the government's wish to establish a fund to which governments, corporations and non-profits could contribute to advance access to abortion worldwide in order to "compensate this financial setback as much as possible."
The Mexico City Policy was first enacted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 (named after the city that hosted the U.N. International Conference on Population, where the policy was first announced), and directed that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) withhold federal funds from international organizations that perform abortions.
President Bill Clinton overturned the policy on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade in 1993, which was reinstated under President George W. Bush on Roe's anniversary in 2001.
The Mexico City Policy was once again reversed under President Barack Obama in 2009.