Obama signs order reversing abortion-funds policy

By LIZ SIDOTI and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writers Liz Sidoti And Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writers

–

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday quietly ended the Bush administration's
ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform
abortions or provide information on the option. Liberal groups welcomed
the decision, while abortion rights foes criticized the president.
Known as the "Mexico City policy," the ban has been reinstated and then reversed by Republican and Democratic presidents since Ronald Reagan established it in 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.
A White House spokesman,
Bill Burton, said Obama signed an executive order on the ban, without
coverage by the media, late Friday afternoon. That was in contrast to
the midday signings with fanfare of executive orders on other subjects earlier in the week.
Obama's action came one day after the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.
The Bush policy had banned U.S. taxpayer money, usually in the form of Agency for International Development
funds, from going to international family planning groups that either
offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about
abortion. The rule also had prohibited federal funding for groups that
lobby to legalize abortion or promote it as a family planning method.
Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton,
who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to do away with the rule
during the presidential campaign. Clinton visited the U.S. Agency for
International Development on Friday but made no mention of the step.
Obama has spent his first days in office aggressively signing executive orders reversing Bush administration policies on issues ranging from foreign policy to government operations.
TV cameras were invited in for Wednesday's announcements on ethics
rules and for Thursday's signing of orders on closing the Guantanamo
Bay prison camp and banning torture in the questioning of terror
suspects.
In a move related to the
lifting of the abortion rule, Obama also is expected to restore funding
to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), probably in the next budget. Both
he and Clinton had pledged to reverse a Bush administration determination that assistance to the organization violated U.S. law.
The Bush administration
had barred U.S. money from the fund, contending that its work in China
supported a Chinese family planning policy of coercive abortion and
involuntary sterilization. UNFPA has vehemently denied that it does.
Organizations that had pressed Obama to make the abortion-ban change were jubilant.
"Women's health
has been severely impacted by the cutoff of assistance. President
Obama's actions will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies,
abortions and women dying from high-risk pregnancies because they don't
have access to family planning," said Tod Preston, a spokesman for
Population Action International, an advocacy group.
Anti-abortion groups criticized the move.
"President
Obama not long ago told the American people that he would support
policies to reduce abortions, but today he is effectively guaranteeing
more abortions by funding groups that promote abortion as a method of population control," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee.
Obama also is expected at some point to lift or ease restrictions on federal money for stem cell research, an issue that divides people along similar battle lines, but there was no word about any action on that Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
has expressed interest in pressing legislation on stem cells in the
first 100 days of the new Congress if the new administration doesn't
act.
Some scientists want broader use
of embryonic stem cells than is currently allowed, hoping for new
treatments for many diseases. Obtaining stem cells from four- or
five-day-old embryos kills the embryos, and many opponents see that as
taking life.
-

In a time of financial crisis, we continue to handout bailouts like money grows on the trees. Do we really need our money going overseas to be solving another countries problems before our own? Our countries problems should be solved first before handing out aid to foreign affairs.