Journalists Predictably Freak Out Over Reinstated Reagan Policy on Abortion

January 23rd, 2017 3:49 PM

To start of his first week in office, Donald Trump spent the morning signing executive orders, one of which was reversing a pro-abortion policy from the Obama Administration. The “Mexico City” policy, more commonly called the “Global Gag” policy by the left, bans federal funds from being given to organizations who pay for or promote abortions overseas. It was originally enacted by Ronald Reagan in 1984 and was rescinded in 2009 by President Obama. Now eight years later, President Trump has reinstated the policy, and some liberal journalists’ displeasure with the news came across in their reporting and their tweets.

The front page of the Huffington Post, never known for its subtlety, breathlessly read: “Room full of men screws over women.” The attached article by Senior Political Reporter Amanda Terkel noted that Trump was “surrounded by men” as he signed this anti-abortion executive order. Terkel briefly described the policy, arguing that it would result in more “unsafe” abortions. She ended by slamming Trump’s cabinet’s lack of diversity: “Trump’s Cabinet is more white and more male than any president’s first Cabinet since Reagan,” she wrote.

Journalists took to Twitter to express their outrage at the pro-life policy as well:

Chloe Angyal, Senior Front Page Editor for the Huffington Post tweeted, “This is what exporting misogyny looks like.” 

While Jessica Valenti, writer for The Guardian called it “patriarchy:”

Tessa Miller, editor at the Daily Beast:

John Harwood of CNBC claimed the policy was about contraception, not abortion:

Laura Bassett, Huffington Post:

Jamil Smith, Senior National Correspondent for MTV News:

and Vox: