A Mexican organisation that illegally transports Abortion Pill to the United States has received funding from Britain’s aid budget.
For the past five years, Las Libres, an organisation that advocates for abortion rights, has received assistance from the Foreign Office’s development budget.
The organisation was established to offer abortion services in Mexico. However, in 2022, it began mailing abortion drugs across the US border after the Supreme Court eliminated nationwide protections for reproductive rights.
A network of activists in the United States personally delivers the medications, and women who request the service are advised to use encrypted messaging apps and email providers to circumvent the authorities.
The medication is permissible for women who are less than 11 weeks pregnant; however, it has been prohibited or restricted in numerous Republican-controlled states.
In violation of state regulations, Las Libres promotes the ordering of abortions by mail for women residing in states where they are unlawful.
In 2022, the Roe v Wade ruling was abolished, and certain Republican-controlled states began prohibiting the use of all abortion methods, including terminations with mail-order tablets.
Las Libres’ Role in Providing Abortion Pills Amid US Legal Restrictions
In June of last year, a conservative attempt to restrict access to the pills nationwide in the Supreme Court was unsuccessful due to opposition from Joe Biden, the then US president.
The Safe Abortion Action Fund (SAAF), a global reproductive rights organisation that provides funding to dozens of charities worldwide, has received £5 million from the UK since 2019.
SAAF opposes Donald Trump and contributes to Las Libres’ activities in Mexico. It has also referred to the United States as a “major imperialist power.”
Las Libres’ operations in the United States are unlawful in certain southern states, such as Texas, where individuals who assist a woman in obtaining an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy are automatically subject to a $10,000 bounty.
According to a Foreign Office spokesperson, the UK taxpayers’ funds had not been allocated to initiatives in the United States due to the regulations established by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which mandate that aid funds be spent in developing countries.
Instead, the group received UK aid to assist in the provision of abortions to migrant women in Mexico, a practice that is not considered illegal.
The disclosure is made on the eve of Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington to confer with Mr. Trump. The Prime Minister declared on Tuesday that he would reduce the aid budget by £6 billion and increase Britain’s defence expenditure to 2.5% of GDP by 2027.
The news that British taxpayers were financing an anti-Republican charity concerned Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, who characterised it as a “wasteful” use of the Foreign Office budget.
She told The Telegraph, “Taxpayers will be entitled to be concerned about the activities to which their money has been allocated or is linked.”
“The Prime Minister clearly listened to Kemi Badenoch’s call for the redeployment of overseas aid to increase defence spending, as the government’s primary objective should be to safeguard our national security.”
According to Veronica Sanchez, the originator of Las Libres, the United Kingdom’s aid funding was not allocated to the purchase of illegal abortion pills.
“Donations are directly received from the civilian population in the United States to support access to safe abortions,” she stated.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s spokesperson stated, “UK aid cannot be spent in non-eligible countries, and no UK taxpayers’ money was used in the US.”
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Salman Ahmad is known for his significant contributions to esteemed publications like the Times of India and the Express Tribune. Salman has carved a niche as a freelance journalist, combining thorough research with engaging reporting.
