The White House announced the move on Friday, the same day as the annual March for Life event on the National Mall in Washington, a major gathering of anti-abortion rights advocates. Trump addressed the group via a video message, and Vice President JD Vance attended in person.
Under the policy, international nonprofit organisations must certify that they do not provide or promote abortion services or counseling — using funds from any source — to continue receiving US federal money.
The policy’s status invariably depends on which party is occupying the White House. It was enacted by Republican President Ronald Reagan, and in the subsequent decades has been repeatedly rescinded by Democratic presidents and reinstated by GOP office-holders. Trump reinstated and expanded it during his first term in office, and saw it rescinded again by Joe Biden.
During Trump’s first term in office, he expanded the policy to apply to the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, maternal and child health and other US programs.
Trump also signed another related action to reaffirm the Hyde Amendment, a policy that dates back to 1977 that bans the use of federal money for abortion care.
Abortion is an issue on which Trump struggled with his messaging during the 2024 campaign as he sought to both retain his support among religious conservatives who helped propel him to the White House and court moderate and suburban women angered by the wave of restrictions following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Trump nominated three of the conservative justices who repealed federal protections for abortion rights.
The right-flank of the Republican party and religious conservatives have pushed for a strict national ban. Trump has said he supports exceptions for women seeking abortions in cases involving rape, incest and when the life of the mother is at risk. He has said he would not sign a national abortion ban but has also suggested he would allow states to monitor women’s pregnancies to help enforce local restrictions on reproductive care.
Ahead of the march, Trump pardoned nearly two dozen people who were convicted for blocking access to abortion clinics.
“They will be released and they will be out very shortly,” Trump said Friday morning ahead of a trip to North Carolina and California. “It was disgraceful.”
Earlier this week, Trump also signed an executive order withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
