One of the very first actions of President Trump surprised me, in a good way. If more actions like this follow I am very hopeful for the unborn in our country.

I will admit that I am cautiously optimistic concerning the “pro-life” claims of President Trump. He has supported abortion in various ways throughout his lifetime and never been considered a pro-life advocate. So when he claimed, on the campaign trail, to be pro-life, I was skeptical.

But you know what they say: actions speak louder than words.

Within the first few hours of his administration, President Trump reinstated the Mexico City policy, much to my surprised and the delight of many pro-life Americans. In case you are not familiar with this policy, it is a policy that prohibits the federal government from sending any taxpayer money to a foreign organization that performs abortions. In other words, not one penny of your hard-earned money, or mine, will be used to perform abortions overseas.

The reinstatement is a reversal of former President Obama’s decision to end the Mexico City policy via executive action, and send our dollars to Planned Parenthood International for the purpose of performing abortions in foreign countries. President Obama was an ally of Planned Parenthood and the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history. But President Trump has pledged to be pro-life, and his Vice President, Mike Pence, is a very highly respected pro-life advocate.

For these reasons there is optimism among many Americans that have long wanted greater restrictions on abortion in America. While the media continues to claim a majority of Americans support abortion, the polls continue to report that most Americans favor restrictions, and a solid majority favor ending most abortions.

A poll conducted in light of the decision to reinstate the Mexico City policy shows that a solid 58% of Americans were opposed to President Obama’s decision to overturn the policy. An article states:

“Reacting to the decision in a poll conducted by the Gallup organization, 58 percent of Americans opposed Obama’s pro-abortion decision while just 35 percent support it and 7 percent have no opinion.”

Even more enlightening is the fact that among Democratic voter support for several issues, Obama’s decision to overturn the Mexico City policy had the least support. This reiterates the reality that even among Democrats the pro-life position and value is a majority in America. Even while the media and extremist politicians try to tell us most Americans support abortion, the simple truth is that Americans are solidly pro-life.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, applauded President Trump for this action and said it not only keeps with his campaign promises, but is in line with the wishes of the American people:

“This is a vital step in the journey to make America great again, recognizing and affirming the universal ideal that all human beings have inherent worth and dignity, regardless of their age or nationality. I thank President Trump for issuing an executive order in keeping with his campaign promise that he will protect taxpayers from having to pay for abortions. According to a post-election survey, nearly 60 percent of Trump voters were impacted by the Republican Party’s strong pro-life, pro-religious liberty platform. This executive order aligns with the GOP platform which states that the Mexico City Policy should be restored. Funding foreign groups that promote or participate in abortion violates the principle that there should be a ‘wall of separation’ between taxpayer money and abortion.”

Steven H. Aden, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, remind us that Planned Parenthood is a corrupt organization that abuses tax dollars and deserves to be defunded:

“American taxpayer dollars have many good uses, but paying for elective abortions overseas is not and never has been one of them. The president has done the right and logical thing in reinstating a policy that never should have been rescinded. The International Planned Parenthood Federation and other groups that promote abortions outside of the U.S. shouldn’t be allowed to profit from taking lives with American money anywhere, especially in light of their documented abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

Americans are not just supportive of ensuring their federal dollars do not fund abortions overseas; a super-majority of Americans also want to ensure no tax dollars are used to fund abortion right here in America. It has long been a fact that at least 6 out of 10 Americans don’t believe their tax dollars should be used for the purpose of abortion. A recent article, citing a new poll, once again confirms that reality:

“Growing numbers of Americans are often shocked to learn that the methods of abortion include dismemberment of a child’s fragile body, including decapitation and the severing of arms and legs, or the use of drugs like mifepristone that starve the child to death before forcibly expelling him or her from the safety of the womb…Polling consistently shows that a supermajority of Americans—61% according to a Marist poll released just yesterday—oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, and 8 in 10 Americans think laws can protect both the well-being of a woman and the health of her unborn child.”

The same article cited above, reports that the House of Representatives has approved legislation to permanently ban tax dollars being used for abortion. The current ban is annual and must be renewed each year. If a new Congress, supporting abortion, ever came to power it is possible that the annual bans may not be renewed. So, in keeping with the wishes of the American people, the current congress is seeking to make these funding bans permanent. May it be so.

Whether you support abortion or not, one thing we can all agree is that Americans should not be forced to fund abortion with our tax dollars. Any person choosing to have an abortion should pay for it on their own, just as someone paying for other unnecessary medical procedures pays for them out of their own pocket. There is no justification for making Americans subsidize abortion and it makes sense to ban, permanently, the use of tax dollars to fund abortion.