WASHINGTON—Vice President JD Vance announced on Jan. 23 that the Trump administration would restrict funding to international organizations that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, in addition to abortion.

“We’re going to start blocking every international [nongovernmental organization] that performs or promotes abortion abroad from receiving $1 of U.S. money,” Vance said during a speech at the annual March for Life. “Now we’re expanding this policy to protect life, to combat DEI and the radical gender ideologies that prey on our children.”

The change builds on the Mexico City Policy, which focused on abortion. Vance said the policy would also cover all non-military foreign assistance.

Established in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, the policy has been repealed and reinstated a number of times, depending on which political party holds power. President Bill Clinton rescinded the policy in 1993, but President George W. Bush revived it when he took office in 2001.

The Obama administration axed the rule in 2009, but when Trump took office in 2017, he revived it and expanded it to cover all “global health assistance furnished by all departments or agencies.”

The rule was halted again by President Joe Biden, before Trump brought it back in January 2025.

“Under President Trump’s leadership and with our great Secretary of State, we believe that every country in the world has the duty to protect life and that it’s not our job as the United States of America to promote radical gender ideology,” Vance said. “It’s our job to promote families and human flourishing.”

“All in all, we’ve expanded the Mexico City policy about three times as big as it was before, and we’re proud of it, because we believe in fighting for life.”

The Hyde Amendment has generally blocked federal dollars from funding abortion since 1977, with exceptions for rape, incest, or when the mother’s life was at risk. Reagan’s policy required foreign grantees to also certify that they wouldn’t use the money to promote abortions as a method for family planning.

Opponents of the policy, such as major abortion provider Planned Parenthood, call it the “global gag rule” and stated that it “creates mass fear and confusion” by limiting information about abortion overseas.

Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International described the move as “an assault on human rights.”

“By targeting organizations that support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and recognize gender diversity, the Trump administration is deliberately deepening inequality and putting the lives of millions around the world at risk,” she said in a statement.

Vance’s announcement comes one day after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) stated that it would end using human fetal tissue in government-funded research.

“This decision is about advancing science by investing in breakthrough technologies more capable of modeling human health and disease,” NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. “Under President Trump’s leadership, taxpayer-funded research must reflect the best science of today and the values of the American people.”