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Joe Biden To Repeal Donald Trump's Anti-Abortion Policy

Joe Biden To Repeal Donald Trump's Anti-Abortion Policy

The newly-elected President is expected to sign the order today

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

Joe Biden is set to repeal anti-abortion policies introduced by Donald Trump.

The US President will sign an executive order reversing the global gag rule or 'Mexico City Policy', which bans US tax dollars from being spent on international organisations that provide abortion services.

CNN reports the global gag rule meant that $9.5 billion (£6.9bn) in international aid funds supporting HIV treatment, clean water projects and child immunisations became contingent on groups agreeing not to discuss or perform abortions.

The presidential memorandum will also direct the Department of Health and Human Services to reconsider the Trump administration's policy banning the federally-funded Title X family planning programme from referring patients for abortions.

The White House said in a statement: "Across the country and around the world, people - particularly women, Black, Indigenous and other people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and those with low incomes - have been denied access to reproductive health care."

Biden told reporters he hopes the executive order will 'reverse my predecessor's attack on women's health access'.

Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order reversing Donald Trump's anti-abortion policy.
PA

Back in 2017, Trump announced that the US would stop contributing to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), erroneously claiming it was supporting coercive abortion and forced sterilisation in China

According to reports, back in 2016, US contributions to the fund totalled $69 million.

At the time of the ban, a spokesperson for the UN agency said: "The support we received over the years from the government and people of the United States has saved tens of thousands of mothers from preventable deaths and disabilities, and especially now in the rapidly developing global humanitarian crises."

This comes after Mr Biden signed an executive order reversing the ban on transgender people serving in the US military, also introduced by Trump.

The order says: "America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive. The military is no exception.

"Allowing all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform is better for the military and better for the country because an inclusive force is a more effective force. Simply put, it's the right thing to do and is in our national interest."

Confirming the move, Mr Biden tweeted: "Today (25 January), I repealed the discriminatory ban on transgender people serving in the military. It's simple: America is safer when everyone qualified to serve can do so openly and with pride."

The order will direct the departments of Defence and Homeland Security re-examine the records of service members who were discharged or denied re-enlistment because of their gender identity as a result of Trump's policy.

The departments must file a report on their progress with the President after 60 days.

The newly-elected President also revered anti-trans policies in the US military.
PA

In his first few days in office, Mr Biden has signed a number of executive orders overturning policies introduced by the Trump administration.

Some of the orders signed pledge to end the construction of 'The Wall' between Mexico and the US, stop the travel ban from some Muslim-majority countries, and see the US re-join the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organisation.

However, Texas became the first state to sue the administration over the executive order to halt the deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: joe biden, US Politics, President, Donald Trump, Politics