WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Monday in response to the Trump Administration’s planned issuance of full guidance implementing the expanded Global Gag Rule, also known as the Mexico City Policy:

“President Trump has now doubled down on his disastrous decision to reinstate the Global Gag Rule by formally expanding it to impact $8.8 billion in U.S. foreign assistance across the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Defense. Perhaps the most peculiar part of this announcement is that the Administration is calling this new policy the ‘Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy,’ which is the opposite of what it would achieve. When enforced previously, the Global Gag Rule has closed the door on some of the most effective, lifesaving family planning programs, but by expanding its nefarious reach to impact virtually all global health assistance, this politically-motivated policy now threatens the lives and health of millions of women and children. Congress must work to end this dangerous policy once and for all, and I stand ready to support those efforts.”