Netherlands Pushes for International Safe Abortion Fund after Trump Cuts-Off Foreign NGOs

By Tarun Mittal, CP Contributor Thursday, January 26, 2017

The international fund will support health centers providing abortion services and related advice in developing countries after Trump shuts U.S. funding.

Donald Trump on Monday reinstated a ban on American federal funding of foreign health care groups who provide or promote abortion in countries that need these services the most.

To avoid the harmful impact Trump's decision will have on health charities across the world, Netherlands has decided to set up an international safe abortion fund so that "women can remain in control of their own bodies."

Lilianne Ploumen, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, said in a statement that "banning abortion leads not to fewer abortions, but to more irresponsible practices in back rooms and higher rates of maternal mortality," reports Al Jazeera.

"We have to compensate this financial setback as much as possible with a well-financed fund, in which governments, businesses, and social organizations will be able to donate," Ploumen added.

Dutch authorities are trying to secure backing from several countries and foundations to create the fund which aims to bridge the $600 million funding gap created by Trump's decision. Netherlands is currently in talks with around 15-12 countries in Europe, Africa and South America along with several organizations to raise the required money for the fund, reports The Guardian.

The fund will be used to back existing programs being run by organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), the International Planned Parenting Federation and Marie Stopes International.

Ploumen reiterates the importance of the venture saying that if the funding to Marie Stopes International is stopped, that alone will result in 6.5 million unwanted pregnancies, 2.2 million unsafe abortions, and 21,700 unnecessary deaths of mothers over the next four years.

Trump signed the controversial "Mexico City Policy" into effect in his first week as President and only two days after widespread women's rights protests were held not only in the U.S., but in major cities across the globe.

Dutch officials remain confident that the planned fund will not damage their relations with the new U.S. administration. "Where decisions are taken that are bad for women in developing countries we should help those women," Herman van Gelderen, spokesman for the Dutch Foreign Ministry told Reuters. "It's not about the politics, it's about those women."

Meanwhile, Ploumen is confident that the plan will continue to receive support despite her country's upcoming elections. "The Netherlands has a long tradition of standing up for sexual and reproductive rights. I don't see that being a problem," she said.