Report: Biden administration allegedly pushing African nation to relax abortion restrictions in exchange for foreign aid.

According to a Monday report, the government of Sierra Leone is being pressured by President Biden's administration to adopt more permissive abortion policies in exchange for foreign assistance.

The African country currently prohibits abortion in most cases, but a bill before its parliament seeks to legalize the practice. According to a former senior U.S. government official, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is threatening to withhold hundreds of millions in foreign aid funding if the abortion law is not passed.

In late September, Sierra Leone's finance minister, Sheku Bangura, signed an agreement with MCC CEO Alice Albright for $480 million in foreign assistance. The agreement is contingent on Sierra Leone meeting the MCC's stringent standards for good governance, combating corruption, and respecting democratic rights. The organization will continually assess the country's compliance with these standards.

On Tuesday, the organization issued a statement to Planet Chronicle Digital denying any attempts to impact Sierra Leone's abortion policies.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation does not have any knowledge of Sierra Leone's abortion laws and has never requested information from the government about its abortion policies. Any such legislation would be a domestic issue for Sierra Leone and would not affect the U.S. government's development fund.

The MCC's board of directors, chaired by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, did not respond to a request for comment.

Video clips shared on social media depict boisterous pro-life activists protesting within Sierra Leone's parliament while lawmakers discussed the bill on Tuesday.

President Julius Maada Bio dismissed his attorney general last week due to the official's refusal to support the abortion law in parliament. Bio appointed Alpha Sesay, a former USAID employee and advocate for the new abortion law, as the new AG this week.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., issued a statement on Monday condemning reports of the pressure campaign.

The Signal reported that it is deeply disturbing, yet not surprising, that the Biden administration is threatening to withhold foreign assistance to Sierra Leone unless legislators there pass the deceptively named 'Safe Motherhood Act' legislation that would legalize abortion in a country that currently protects unborn life.

The Biden administration has been accused by Smith of "hijacking" a Bush-era program delivering AIDS relief to Africa to promote its abortion agenda.

The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), launched in 2003 under President George W. Bush, has invested over $100 billion fighting AIDS globally, resulting in the saving of 25 million lives and the prevention of millions of infections. Last year, PEPFAR was up for re-authorization in Congress.

In a 2023 statement, Smith claimed that President Biden had taken control of PEPFAR, a $6 billion annual foreign aid program aimed at reducing HIV/AIDS in targeted countries, primarily in Africa, to promote abortion on demand.

PEPFAR under Biden has given $96.5 million to Population Services International (PSI) and $10.1 million to Village Reach in recent years, and both organizations have a history of advocating for abortion.

"Smith stated that PSI proudly proclaims it provides abortion and lobbies to eliminate pro-life laws."

Planet Chronicle' Andrew Mark Miller contriubted to this report