# 2026-01519: U.S. Foreign Aid Bans Abortion Funding: Protecting Life Overseas Starts Now 2026-01519, Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance, is a Federal Register rule from State Department published 2026-01-27, effective 2026-02-26; deemed significant under Executive Order 12866 (as of 2026-11-04). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-01519 - As of: 2026-11-04 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Document number: 2026-01519 - Title: Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance - Type: Rule - Agencies: State Department - Citation: 91 FR 3319 - Published: 2026-01-27 - Effective: 2026-02-26 - Comments close: not stated - Significant: yes (OIRA_API) - Touches household money: no - Regulation identifier numbers: 1400-AG24 - Last updated: 2026-11-04 ## In one line U.S. Foreign Aid Bans Abortion Funding: Protecting Life Overseas Starts Now ## Summary Starting February 26, 2026, the U.S. will require all foreign aid groups to follow new rules that stop funding abortion-related activities overseas. This affects foreign and U.S. NGOs, international groups, and governments receiving U.S. grants or aid. The change supports the President’s goal to protect life and will be added to new and renewed funding agreements, making sure U.S. money doesn’t support abortion as family planning. ## Abstract To implement the Presidential Memorandum of January 24, 2025, reinstating the Mexico City Policy in support of the foreign policy objective of the United States not to support abortion as a method of family planning overseas directly or indirectly, the U.S. Department of State (Department) is adding a new award term for grants, cooperative agreements, and voluntary contributions entitled "Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance." The award term imposes certain abortion-related requirements on foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), United States NGOs, public international organizations, foreign governments, and parastatals. The award term is issued consistent with authorities under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA) and other foreign assistance authorities, such as the FREEDOM Support Act, the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962, and the SEED Act of 1989, which authorize the Department to provide foreign assistance on such terms and conditions as the President, and by delegation, the Secretary of State, may determine. Consistent with past Mexico City Policy protocol, the provision will be incorporated as applicable into grants and cooperative agreements when new funds are added as well as into new awards. ## Effects PRIA read - New Award Term Bans Abortion Funding: cost, medium. Starting February 26, 2026, Department of State foreign assistance awards will include a new ‘‘Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance’’ award term. Foreign NGOs, U.S. NGOs, international organizations, foreign governments, and parastatals receiving or implementing State Department foreign assistance… - Policy Applies to All Non‑Military Aid: cost, high. The rule expands the policy beyond global health to cover all non-military foreign assistance administered by the Department of State. This includes global health, humanitarian assistance, economic and development assistance, stabilization, civil society and democracy programs, Migration and Refuge… - U.S. NGOs Must Separate Abortion Activities: cost, medium. U.S. nongovernmental organizations that receive Department of State foreign assistance must not provide abortions outside the United States and must ensure physical and financial separation between their foreign assistance-funded programs and any abortion-related activities. Organizations that prov… - Flow‑Down Requirement Extends To Subrecipients: cost, medium. All recipients of State Department foreign assistance who issue sub-awards must flow down the Protecting Life award term to subrecipients. The flow-down requirement applies to foreign and U.S. NGOs, international organizations, foreign governments, and parastatals, and applies to grants under contr… - Estimated Compliance Costs and Burden: cost, high. The Department estimates 2,500 impacted recipients; one-time familiarization averaging 50 hours per entity totaling $16,035,000; annual training and compliance monitoring costs estimated at $114,052,700; average time per response 261 hours; and total estimated burden hours of 652,500. These figures… - Waiver Possible for Security or Policy Reasons: mixed, low. The rule allows the Secretary of State to waive the policy or particular elements of it when, in the Secretary's judgment, a waiver is necessary for national security or foreign policy purposes. The Department will issue guidance describing the waiver process. - Possible Service Disruptions for Beneficiaries: cost, medium. The Department acknowledges that some organizations may decline future foreign assistance rather than comply, which could cause temporary disruptions in service delivery and impacts on program beneficiaries. The Department says it will seek new partners willing to agree to the award term to minimiz… ## Related documents - [2026-20079](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-20079): International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR): Review of the U.S. Munitions List and Related Definitions and License Exemptions, 2026-10-01 - [2026-17655](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-17655): Passports: Expanding Online Passport Renewal Overseas, 2026-08-28 - [2026-04931](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-04931): Schedule of Fees for Consular Services-Fee for Administrative Processing of Request for Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United St…, 2026-03-13 - [2025-17851](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-17851): Schedule of Fees for Consular Services, Department of State and Overseas Embassies and Consulates-Visa Services Fee Changes, 2025-09-16 - [2025-14826](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-14826): Visas: Visa Bond Pilot Program, 2025-08-05 - [2026-22248](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-22248): Notice of Department of State Sanctions Actions, 2026-11-02 ## Sources - [2026-01519 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/27/2026-01519/protecting-life-in-foreign-assistance) - [2026-01519 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-27/pdf/2026-01519.pdf) ## Related - [Previous: 2026-01517, Combating Discriminatory Equity Ideology in Foreign Assistance Rules](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-01517) - [Next: 2026-01549, Reflectorization of Rail Freight Rolling Stock; Codifying Existing Waivers](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-01549) - [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-01519 (as of 2026-11-04).