THE HAGUE: The Dutch government says it wants an international fund to finance access to birth control, abortion and education for women in developing countries.
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen announced the plan Tuesday in reaction to an executive memorandum U.S. President Donald Trump signed a day earlier. It reinstituted a ban on U.S. funding to international groups that perform abortions or provide information about abortions.
Ploumen wants to launch a new fund that could be supported by governments, businesses and social organizations to "compensate this financial setback as much as possible."
The ban, known as the "Mexico City Policy" or, by critics, the "global gag rule," has been instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984. President Barack Obama last lifted it in 2009.