Credit: Ed Coach

President Donald Trump reinstated an executive order Monday barring US foreign aid from going to any nongovernmental organization (NGO) that either provides abortion services, or even discusses abortion with its patients as an option for family planning.

A statement from Population Action International (PAI), a global family planning advocacy organization, called the move to reinstate the so-called global gag rule, “the beginning of the Trump-Pence administration’s agenda to punish women everywhere.”

Trump has promised to take sweeping actions against abortion, including appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Reinstating the global gag rule is the first indication of how serious he is.

The global gag rule has become something of a political seesaw since Ronald Reagan first implemented it in 1984 at a United Nations population conference in Mexico City (which is why it’s also called the “Mexico City policy”). Bill Clinton repealed it immediately when he took office. George W. Bush immediately reinstated it when he took office. Then Barack Obama immediately repealed.