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It almost sounds fictional, doesn’t it? Like a sick plot from a dystopian novel.

But here we are in 2020, and governments across the western hemisphere are sending their citizens’—our—tax dollars to abort brown babies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

So much for letting other nations decide their own destiny and practice their cultural norms without our interference.

“Are we aware of the enemy that is continually interfering with our tradition and culture of protecting life?” asks Kenya’s Bishop Alfred Rotich, as he reflects on this unconscionable phenomenon.

Pope Francis, who appointed Rotich, rightly calls it “ideological colonisation”. “Contraceptive imperialism” is another term used to describe the use of Western aid to promote and pay for overseas abortion.

If all of this makes you feel nauseous, it should. Nothing says western imperialism quite like trying to exterminate dark-skinned babies in the developing world.

Often these policies fly under the radar with the use of ambiguous language like “sexual health” and “reproductive rights”. But they affect real people and end real lives.

On discovering that the Australian government had given $9.5 million to an international “planned parenthood” agency that commits abortion in the third world, Federal MP George Christensen said he felt ashamed. “I’ve got to say that was a disgraceful act. It was a very low point I think for our nation,” he said.

Christensen requested the government to guard this aid money from use by abortion agencies, but so far his requests have fallen on deaf ears.

The UK government likewise has blood on its hands. In 2016, the Department for International Development spent £334.9 million on overseas aid programmes. This aid was specifically set aside for “population programmes, abortion and reproductive health”.

Over in the US, the Obama administration worked especially hard to export abortion. The centrepiece of President Obama’s foreign policy was the Global Health Initiative, whose $63 billion annual spend helped promote and fund abortions abroad. He even selected a pro-abortion activist to lead the program.

Once in office, one of Obama’s first actions was to repeal the Mexico City policy. This law was enacted by President Reagan in the 1980s to protect US funds from being used for such diabolical ends.

Fortunately there has been a shift in US policy since. Following the tradition of Republican commanders-in-chief since Reagan, President Trump was quick to reinstate the Mexico City policy.

In fact, Trump has surprised everyone with his strong pro-life stance since taking office. In a blistering speech to the United Nations in September of last year, he declared:

“Americans will also never tire of defending innocent life. We are aware that many United Nations projects have attempted to assert a global right to taxpayer-funded abortion on demand, right up until the moment of delivery.

“Global bureaucrats have absolutely no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life. Like many nations here today, we in America believe that every child—born and unborn—is a sacred gift from God.”

And it’s not just words for the current president. As well as restoring the Mexico City policy, Trump has strengthened it. Until recently, foreign aid recipients not in the abortion industry were able to channel their funds to organisations that are. But in March 2019, Trump’s team closed the loop to these “backdoor funding schemes”.

His administration has also endorsed the Siljander amendment for the first time in 35 years, which prevents federal funds from being used for abortion lobbying.

Speaking to these issues, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently announced,

“American taxpayer dollars will not be used to underwrite abortions. This administration has shown that we can continue to meet our global health goals while refusing to subsidise the killing of unborn babies.”

This brand of bold leadership is desperately needed in other western nations. Trump faces an uninterrupted barrage of media contempt. Some of it he may well deserve. But it has taught him the art of having a thick skin and a strong spine for the issues that really matter.

Abortion is surely among these. It is, after all, a matter of life and death.