This country is raising $600 million to counter Trump's anti-abortion policy
The Dutch government is setting up an international safe abortion fund just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cut U.S. foreign aid.
On Monday, Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy -- known as the global gag rule -- which prevents non-governmental organisations working abroad from receiving federal funding for family planning if they perform abortions or even talk to their clients about abortion.
Up to 20 countries and several foundations have already said they would support the Netherlands in setting up an international abortion fund to plug a $600 million funding gap caused by the reinstatement of the global gag rule, according to Lilianne Ploumen, Dutch minister of foreign trade and development cooperation.
She said Wednesday that the Netherlands would do everything in its power to help women "remain in control of their own bodies."
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
"As well as contacting a number of European countries that we work with on these issues, we’re also in touch with countries in South America and Africa, as well as the foundations. It’s important to have the broadest possible support for the fund," Ploumen told the Guardian.
"These are successful and effective programmes: direct support, distributing condoms, making sure women are accompanied at the birth, and making sure abortion is safe if they have no other choice," Ploumen continued.
Ploumen hopes to start arranging the funding within the next two to three weeks. Other governments, businesses and charities will be able to donate to the fund.
The move appears to pit the Netherlands government against Trump's administration, but Ploumen told the Guardian the country had the right to take an independent stance.
"I’m pro-choice and pro-women’s rights. It’s important to stand your ground," she said. "We respect the decisions of a democratically elected president, but we’re democratically elected too and we can make different decisions."
"This is also about millions of women and girls who often have no voice or live in countries where democracy is less deeply rooted," she continued, "and when they speak up they need our support."
Topics Donald Trump Politics
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
