Vice President JD Vance used his Friday address at the March for Life to announce what the administration calls a "historic expansion" of the Mexico City policy, saying the rule will now block any international NGO that "performs or promotes abortion abroad" from receiving U.S. funds and extend across nearly all nonmilitary foreign assistance.
"Today, our administration is proud to announce a historic expansion of the Mexico City policy," Vance said in a speech to the March for Life in Washington, D.C., which aired live on Newsmax and the free Newsmax2 streaming platform. "We're going to start blocking every international NGO that performs or promotes abortion abroad from receiving a dollar of U.S. money."
According to reports and advocacy groups tracking the change, the expanded Global Gag Rule would apply not only to foreign organizations, but also to U.S.-based NGOs that receive federal funding, conditioning aid on agreements not to provide, promote, or even discuss abortion.
The policy is also expected to deny funding to organizations that provide care to transgender individuals or participate in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
"Now we're expanding this policy to protect life, to combat DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] and the radical gender ideologies that prey on our children," Vance added. "And with these additions, the rule will now cover every non-military foreign assistance that America sends.
"All in all, we have 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."
Historically, the Mexico City policy barred foreign recipients of U.S. global health funds from providing or referring for abortion services, even when legal in their own countries and financed without U.S. funds. Under the reported expansion, the rule would now cover all non-military foreign assistance, including humanitarian aid for food, water, and medical relief in disaster and conflict zones.
The Center for Reproductive Rights condemned the move, warning it could disrupt lifesaving aid and medical services worldwide.
"People are already dying because of this administration's slashing of foreign assistance," said Rachana Desai Martin, the group’s chief U.S. program officer, calling the expansion "a stunning abdication of basic human decency."
The Mexico City policy, first introduced in 1984, has been repeatedly rescinded by Democratic administrations and reinstated by Republican ones.
The administration has not yet released the full text of the expanded policy.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.