A majority of people oppose government funding for international abortions, a Marist Poll released Wednesday found.
The poll, commissioned by the Catholic group Knights of Columbus, reported that 77% of people think that the federal government should not use tax dollars to help pay for abortions in foreign countries. It also found that a slight majority of people oppose government funding for abortions within the United States, even as most people identify as generally pro-abortion rights.
“For over a decade, we’ve seen consistent consensus on this issue,” said Mike Conteis, director of research and data analysis at Marist, pointing to past data showing an increase in opposition to government-funded abortions.
The poll, which was conducted in mid-January, came out a day before President Biden is expected to sign an executive order rescinding the Mexico City Policy, which the Trump administration frequently touted as one of its biggest wins for anti-abortion activists. The policy, originally implemented during the Reagan administration, withholds government aid to foreign nongovernmental organizations if they “perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.”
The policy typically remains in place when Republicans occupy the White House and is rescinded when Democrats retake control. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama wiped out the Mexico City Policy when they were in office.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who serves as a medical adviser to Biden, announced in a speech last week to the World Health Organization that the president will be revoking the policy “as part of his broader commitment to protect women’s health and advance gender equality at home and around the world.”
Biden’s decision to undo the policy comes as his administration pivots away from his predecessor’s strident anti-abortion stances. Trump not only reinstated the Mexico City Policy, but he also expanded it to include foreign funding related to healthcare, rather than funds explicitly set aside for family planning. Trump walled off more than $8.8 billion in overseas aid, according to the anti-abortion advocacy group Susan B. Anthony List.
Biden, in the coming weeks, is expected to become mired in a squabble over the Hyde Amendment, a congressional provision which bans government funding to abortions within the U.S. Two hundred House Republicans on Tuesday signed a letter stating that they would not sign on to budget bills that eliminate the Hyde Amendment as Democrats assert their dominance over both chambers of Congress.
The Biden administration has dodged questions on how the president will act with regard to the Hyde Amendment, though Biden dramatically flipped from supporting to opposing the measure while campaigning in the Democratic primaries.
