H.R. 764: Global Health, Empowerment and Rights Act
Sponsor
Lois Frankel
Democrat · FL-22
The Mexico City Policy would end, and stay ended
Why it matters
Roughly $8.8 billion a year in U.S. global health aid comes with a string attached whenever the Mexico City Policy is in force, according to KFF's estimate of the 2017 expansion: foreign groups that provide, counsel on, or refer for abortion with their own money cannot receive it. H.R. 764 would write that condition out of the law for good. It would also bar any future White House from putting it back through policy alone.
The Mexico City Policy is a presidential rule, not a law. First issued in 1984, it bars foreign nongovernmental organizations from receiving certain U.S. aid if they perform or promote abortion, even with money that never came from the United States. Democratic presidents have rescinded it and Republican presidents have reinstated it, most recently on January 24, 2025. H.R. 764 was introduced four days later.
The bill says a foreign nonprofit cannot be shut out of U.S. development assistance solely because it provides health or medical services, including counseling and referrals, with non-U.S. money. Two limits are built in. The services must not be paid for with U.S. government funds, and they must be legal in the country where they are provided.
A second provision covers speech. Foreign nonprofits could not face stricter rules on using their own funds for advocacy or lobbying than American nonprofits receiving the same aid already face. Sponsors describe this as ending a double standard between domestic and overseas grantees.
The bill opens with a clause that overrides any conflicting law, regulation, or policy. That is the mechanism that would stop a future president from reinstating the policy by memorandum, because a statute outranks an executive action. Undoing it would take another act of Congress.
What the bill does not touch matters as much. The Helms Amendment, which since 1973 has barred U.S. funds from paying for abortion as a method of family planning, stays in place. H.R. 764 only governs what a group does with money that is not ours. It authorizes no new spending and creates no new program.
Bill Progress
Latest Action · Jan 28, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
H.R. 764 Bill Summary
What H.R. 764 actually does.
Providing legal health care with your own money could not cost you U.S. aid
A foreign nonprofit could not be denied U.S. development assistance solely because it offers health or medical services, including counseling and referrals, paid for with non-U.S. government funds.
Local law draws the line
The protection covers only services that are legal in the country where they are provided. A group offering services that violate local law gets no cover from this bill.
Overseas groups get the same speech rules as American ones
Foreign nonprofits could not be held to stricter limits than U.S. nonprofits on using their own funds for advocacy and lobbying while receiving the same aid.
A future president could not undo it alone
The bill applies regardless of any other law, regulation, or policy. Reversing it would require Congress to pass a new law, not a White House memorandum.
U.S. money still cannot pay for abortion
Nothing in the bill changes the Helms Amendment, which bars U.S. funds from paying for abortion as a method of family planning. The bill only addresses services funded by other sources.
Who benefits from H.R. 764?
Overseas clinics that mix U.S. grants with other donors' money
Groups running HIV, maternal health, or family planning programs on U.S. funds could keep offering legally permitted services funded by European or private donors without losing the U.S. grant.
Patients in countries where the services are legal
People who rely on those clinics for testing, contraception, prenatal care, or counseling would be less likely to see programs close or shrink when the policy is reinstated.
Foreign health organizations that speak on policy
Groups that use their own funds to advocate on health law in their own countries would be judged by the same rules that apply to U.S. nonprofits receiving the same aid.
Aid programs that lose partners at each policy swing
U.S. agencies would keep a stable pool of eligible partners instead of rebuilding networks every time the policy is rescinded or reinstated.
Who is affected by H.R. 764?
Presidents who want the policy in force
The bill removes the White House's ability to impose the Mexico City Policy by memorandum. Restoring it would require a new law passed by both chambers.
Groups that only want aid partners who avoid abortion entirely
Supporters of the policy argue U.S. aid should not flow to organizations that provide or promote abortion with any funds. The bill rejects that position as a condition of eligibility.
State Department and USAID successor agencies
Grant officers would have to stop treating separately funded, locally legal health services as a disqualifier and would apply one advocacy standard to domestic and foreign grantees alike.
Foreign nonprofits whose services violate local law
They are not covered. The protection depends on the services being legal where they are provided.
HR764 Legislative Journey
House: Committee Action
Jan 28, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
About the Sponsor
Lois Frankel
Democrat, Florida's 22nd congressional district · 13 years in Congress
Committees: Appropriations
View full profile →
Cosponsors (138)
All 138 cosponsors are Democrats. Cosponsors represent 36 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, and 33 more.
Janice Schakowsky
Democrat · IL
Ami Bera
Democrat · CA
Grace Meng
Democrat · NY
Norma Torres
Democrat · CA
Gabe Amo
Democrat · RI
Yassamin Ansari
Democrat · AZ
Becca Balint
Democrat · VT
Nanette Barragán
Democrat · CA
Donald Beyer
Democrat · VA
Suzanne Bonamici
Democrat · OR
Julia Brownley
Democrat · CA
Nikki Budzinski
Democrat · IL
Cosponsor Coverage Map
Committee Sponsors
Foreign Affairs Committee
19 of 53 committee members cosponsored
6 Democrats across this committee haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents
H.R. 764 Quick Facts
- Committee
- Foreign Affairs
- Chamber
- House
- Policy
- International Affairs
- Introduced
- Jan 28, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Jan 28, 2025
Official Sources
Official bill status, text, cosponsors, and committee referral for the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights Act.
The introduced text of H.R. 764 as published by the Government Publishing Office.
The January 24, 2025 memorandum that reinstated the Mexico City Policy, the executive action H.R. 764 is written to override.
The State Department award term that applies the reinstated policy to foreign nongovernmental organizations receiving U.S. assistance.
State Department guidance and FAQ on how the abortion-related award conditions are applied to grantees.
Subsection (f) is the Helms Amendment, which bars U.S. funds from paying for abortion as a method of family planning and is untouched by this bill.
Part I of the Foreign Assistance Act (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is the development assistance whose eligibility rules H.R. 764 changes.
The committee where H.R. 764 has been pending since its referral on January 28, 2025.
H.R. 764 Common Questions
What is the Mexico City Policy, and how does H.R. 764 change it?
It is a presidential rule, first issued in 1984, that cuts off certain U.S. aid to foreign groups that perform or promote abortion with their own money. H.R. 764 would end it by law and block future presidents from reinstating it by memorandum.
Would H.R. 764 let U.S. tax dollars pay for abortions overseas?
No. The bill only protects services paid for with non-U.S. money. The Helms Amendment, which has barred U.S. funds from paying for abortion as a method of family planning since 1973, is untouched.
Which services would be protected under H.R. 764?
Any health or medical service, including counseling and referrals, that a foreign nonprofit provides with non-U.S. funds. The bill does not name abortion, but ending the abortion-based cutoff is what sponsors say it is for.
What if abortion is illegal in the country where the clinic operates?
Then the bill offers no protection. It covers only services that do not violate the laws of the country where they are provided, so local law sets the boundary.
Does H.R. 764 change what foreign groups can say about abortion policy?
Yes. Foreign nonprofits could not face stricter limits on using their own money for advocacy or lobbying than U.S. nonprofits receiving the same aid already face.
Could a future president bring the Mexico City Policy back anyway?
Not by memorandum. The bill applies regardless of any other law, regulation, or policy, so once it is law, reinstating the policy would take a new act of Congress.
Who supports H.R. 764, and will it pass?
Rep. Lois Frankel introduced it with 138 cosponsors, all Democrats. It has had no hearing in the Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee since January 2025, so passage in this Congress is unlikely.
Does H.R. 764 create new foreign aid spending?
No. It sets no dollar amount and creates no program. It changes which organizations can qualify for development assistance Congress already funds.
Based on H.R. 764 bill text
H.R. 764 Bill Text
“To prohibit the application of certain restrictive eligibility requirements to foreign nongovernmental organizations with respect to the provision of assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.”
Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office
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