Pro-life leaders condemned President Joe Biden’s Thursday announcement that he will rescind the Mexico City Policy, which prevents American taxpayer dollars from funding abortions abroad.

In a presidential memorandum released Thursday, the new president announced that he will “immediately” rescind the Mexico City Policy.

“Rescinding the Mexico City Policy on the eve of the March for Life is a deeply disturbing move, especially when the president says he wants national unity,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini said in a statement.

“It goes against the wishes of an overwhelming majority of Americans,” Mancini said, citing a Knights of Columbus and Marist poll released Wednesday that showed more than three in four Americans oppose the funding of abortions abroad with taxpayer dollars.

“The government should never force taxpayers to fund abortions, either here or abroad, but should work to protect the inherent dignity of all persons, born and unborn.”

Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser noted that both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have promised to unify the nation, but said that Biden’s decision to reverse the Mexico City Policy “flies in the face” of the idea of unity.

“Americans across the political spectrum oppose the use of taxpayer funding to promote abortion and abortion businesses,” Dannenfelser said in a statement. “Despite this, the new administration is moving forward with a payout to the abortion industry that backed their political campaign.”

Biden, the second Catholic president of the United States, has drawn criticism for his support for abortion despite the Catholic Church’s open opposition to abortion. Brian Burch, the president of Catholic Vote, highlighted the disparity between Biden’s actions and Catholic teaching in a Thursday statement.

“The decision is especially shameful given the repeated insistence that Joe Biden is a ‘devout’ Catholic, even by his own press secretary as recently as last week when asked about this policy,” Burch said, referring to when Press Secretary Jen Psaki dodged a question on Biden’s abortion policy by telling reporters that Biden is “a devout Catholic.”

“The use of his Catholic faith to whitewash policies aimed at destroying innocent life is both insulting and diametrically opposed to the teachings of the Catholic Church itself,” Burch said.

He added that “any hopes for unity and bipartisanship are gone.”

Biden also directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Thursday to review the Title X family planning regulations. The new president is expected to reverse Trump’s “Protect Life Rule,” which prohibited Title X Family Planning Program funds from going to organizations that perform or promote abortions.

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