The city of West Hollywood applauded President Joe Biden for standing in support of women and reproductive justice in signing an executive order on Jan. 28 to reverse the Trump administration’s reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, a global gag rule to prohibit international nongovernmental organizations that provide or discuss abortion services from receiving federal funding.

The Biden administration’s reversal of the Mexico City Policy reflects the administration’s support of women and signals a broader commitment to protect women’s health and to advance gender equality in the United States and around the world.

“All women everywhere must have control over our bodies, our decisions and our lives,” Mayor Lindsey Horvath said. “The Trump-era reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy had a devastating impact on women. In fact, it actually served to increase unintended pregnancies by reducing access to contraception. The Biden administration’s action to rescind the policy is outstanding news for women, girls and transgender people, all of whom may face reproductive health risks, and this will lay the groundwork again for positive changes to reproductive health and rights around the world. We must, however, remain vigilant in continuing to guard a woman’s right to reproductive freedom. Today, we’re still seeing harmful forces at work at the federal level and in state legislatures that aim to restrict women’s health and outlaw abortions. We will not sit by and we will not back down. The city of West Hollywood will continue to fight for women to be treated with respect and for dignified health care for all. Anything less is unacceptable.”

The Trump administration first issued its presidential memorandum regarding the Mexico City Policy in January 2017. West Hollywood responded in February 2017 by approving a resolution as part of a broader response to a series of Trump-era executive actions that “undermine the rights of minority groups and to reverse course on progressive policies” including the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, to prohibit the city from doing business with businesses providing financial or other benefits to the president of the United States.

In May 2019, the city of West Hollywood became the first city in the nation to take action against states that passed extreme anti-choice legislation by passing a resolution to enact financial sanctions, and the city and pro-choice organizations stood together on a National Day of Action to #StopTheBans those states had enacted.

West Hollywood was the first city in the nation, in 1993, to declare itself pro-choice. More than two decades later, West Hollywood continues its efforts to vigorously defend women’s reproductive rights and access to health care.

For information, contact Hernán Molina, West Hollywood’s governmental affairs liaison, at (323)848-6364 or at hmolina@weho.org.