The plaintiffs were family planning (FP) organizations that challenged the lawfulness of the defendant's insertion into FP grants awarded by the US government of a standard clause precluding any assistance to foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortions, even with separate funds. The Court held that the Foreign Assistance Act, which authorized the President to furnish assistance for FP did not prohibit the insertion of the clause. It also ruled, however, that the question whether recipient organizations' First Amendment right to free speech was violated was not a nonjustifiable political question and could be determined by the courts. The plaintiffs had argued, among other things, that the insertion of the clause precluded recipients from providing advice and information and from lobbying with respect to abortion. The Court remanded the case for a decision on this issue. This issue was litigated in 1 other case in 1988. In DKT Memorial Fund, Limited, vs. Agency for International Development (US District Court, District of Columbia, 1 July 1988 [691 F.Supp. 394]), the Court held that the Government's policy violated the First Amendment free speech rights of domestic FP, but not the rights of foreign organizations.
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