Letter
Coalition Letter to President Trump on Shaheen Amendment to State Foreign Operations and Related Programs Bill (2019)
Coalition Letter to President Donald J. Trump on the Shaheen Amendment to State Foreign Operations and Related Programs SFOPs Bill, November 21, 2019
A coalition of pro-life and religious organizations wrote to President Donald Trump urging him to oppose the Shaheen Amendment in the Senate’s State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill.
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City and Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities joined 17 other pro-life groups in urging President Trump to ensure that an amendment led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), which would enrich global abortion providers, is not part of any final appropriations package.
The letter pointed to several problems, particularly that the amendment “increases a highly controversial earmark for international family planning by $57.55 million above current law, from $575 million to $632.55 million.” The groups noted that “more money for this earmark exploits an aspect of the PLGHA that allows this account to serve as a taxpayer-funded supplemental for U.S.-based NGOs that actively promote abortion overseas. In FY 2018, the U.S. provided nearly $280 million in foreign aid to groups involved in abortion activities overseas.”
The coalition strongly urged President Trump to communicate with the U.S. Congress that the amendment violates the FY2020–2021 Bipartisan Budget Agreement by introducing new policy provisions (“poison pill riders”) and to oppose the inclusion of the amendment in any final appropriations package.