The pause in foreign aid funding and many of Trump’s executive orders are now part of court cases seeking to stop the actions – part of what legal scholars are calling a “constitutional crisis” in the US, as the president dismantles programs established and funded by Congress – the branch of government with the “power of the purse”.
International health organizations have warned that Donald Trump’s push to dismantle US foreign aid and orders barring diversity, equity and inclusion are destroying programs that once provided healthcare to millions of women and girls worldwide.
Providers said a 90-day stop work order imposed by the Department of State to “review” contracts for compliance with the new administration’s orders means many clinics, which operate on shoestring budgets, will never reopen – pausing services for everything from cervical cancer screenings to HIV treatment to the removal of intrauterine contraceptive devices.
However, when Trump entered office, he ordered all US foreign aid frozen for 90 days as contracts are “reviewed” and ordered a work stoppage on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, often called DEI.
As those issues move through courts, funding orders are sowing “chaos” for programs around the world, including for international sexual and reproductive health workers whose work is necessarily tailored to women, girls and sexual minorities.
