Unlike the House, the Senate wisely chose not to insert the Mexico City family planning policy into its Foreign Operations appropriations bill. As the House conferees meet with the Senate conferees to produce a final version of this bill, I sincerely hope that the Senate position will prevail and the Mexico City policy will be dropped.

Supporters of the Mexico City policy argue that it is necessary to ensure that the United States shouldn't fund abortion overseas. However, it is important to remember that the United States is expressly prohibited from doing so. I repeat, no U.S. aid goes toward abortions overseas.

The Mexico City policy would take that funding restriction further and say that no U.S. aid could go toward health clinics overseas that provide abortion or abortion-related services. Those health care clinics would have to choose between forgoing U.S. aid and denying thousands of women access to much-needed health care or not providing abortion services to women who have the right to choose according to their country's laws.

The Mexico City policy would have the unfortunate consequence of preventing thousands of women from receiving family planning services, prenatal care, and other important reproductive health care services.

The result of the Mexico City policy would be more unintended pregnancies resulting in more abortions, more maternal and infant deaths, and more economic and environmental strain on families. I urge the House to protect women's reproductive health care worldwide and vote no on this motion.