Australia today announced $9.5 million Australian dollars ($7.3 million) in funding for the International Planned Parenthood Foundation. The move was seen by many as a pointed rebuke to President Donald Trump’s controversial reinstatement of a strengthened “global gag rule,” which bars any foreign NGO that offers or advises on abortion from receiving U.S. funds.
The announcement by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at the 2017 Australasian Aid Conference, in Canberra on Feb. 15, was made in a keynote address that pointedly spoke to the importance of an aid program that supports women and girls.
“It’s the right thing to do, it’s a matter of principle,” she told the audience. “It’s also the smart thing to do as improving gender equality promotes economic prosperity.”