On Thursday, President Joe Biden officially reversed the Mexico City Policy, which prevents U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding non-governmental organizations that perform abortions overseas or advocate for abortion overseas. While polls suggest 77 percent of Americans approve of the Mexico City Policy, Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s top COVID-19 expert, defended Biden’s decision to rescind it as positive for women’s “health.”
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and a COVID-19 advisor to both former President Donald Trump and Biden, has become notorious for giving conflicting guidance on COVID-19. Fauci has praised Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D-N.Y.) COVID-19 response even though Cuomo’s errors helped the virus spread in the U.S. and despite New York’s deadly nursing home policy. Fauci has also said there is no inconsistency in closing churches and businesses but allowing mass protests.
Yet on January 21, one day after Biden’s inauguration, Fauci strayed from his area of expertise and addressed abortion, defending Biden’s decision to reverse the Mexico City Policy.
“It will be our policy to support women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in the United States, as well as globally,” Fauci said in remarks at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) executive board meeting. “To that end, President Biden will be revoking the Mexico City Policy in the coming days, as part of his broader commitment to protect women’s health and advance gender equality at home and around the world.”
President Ronald Reagan first instituted the Mexico City Policy in the 1980s. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama reversed the policy early in their administrations, while Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump reinstituted the policy shortly after they took office.
In a new Marist/Knights of Columbus (KOC) poll released Wednesday, 77 percent of respondents said they “oppose” or “strongly oppose” “using tax dollars to support abortion in other countries.” Only 19 percent said they support taxpayer funding for abortion overseas.
Even majorities of self-identified Democrats (55 percent), Biden supporters (58 percent), and pro-choice respondents (64 percent) said they opposed taxpayer funding for abortion overseas.
When Fauci praised abortion as vital for women’s health, he ignored the health of unborn babies, who have full human DNA from the moment of conception and who develop a detectable heartbeat early in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Perhaps Fauci should stick to his matter of expertise rather than delving into politically fraught issues like abortion.
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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