Pro-life official praises retention of abortion limits in budget bill

Published: 2007-12-19

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- An official at the U.S. bishops' pro-life office praised the House of Representatives for its passage of an omnibus budget bill that retains the Mexico City policy barring the use of U.S. family planning funds to provide abortions overseas. "It is a victory to celebrate that the Mexico City policy was not weakened or otherwise gutted by Congress," said Deirdre McQuade, director of planning and information for the bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. President George W. Bush had pledged to veto any budget legislation that weakened his pro-life policies. He indicated he would sign the version passed by the House Dec. 17, as long as the Senate included an additional $40 billion for troops in Iraq. After the Senate agreed to that addition Dec. 18, the House was expected to ratify the final bill Dec. 19. The Mexico City policy, instituted in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, was so named because it was announced at the U.N. International Conference on Population held that year in Mexico City. It was rescinded by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and reinstated by President George W. Bush in 2001 in one of his first acts as president.

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