Constitutional Law

Media Reports Obama To Lift Global Ban on Funding of Family Planning Groups

The Washington Post and USA Today are reporting that the Obama administration will lift a ban on funding of international groups that provide counseling on abortions. Former President George W. Bush issued a global gag rule when he took office in 2001 that barred the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from awarding family planning funds to international health care groups that provide abortion services or counseling. The Post reports that Obama administration officials, who remained anonymous, said the president would sign an executive order today lifting the ban. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, hailed the announcement, saying that, “President Obama’s action today reinforces why elections matter and how new leadership can end divisive policies that harm women. Reversing this Bush-era policy means that the world’s poorest women may now have access to vital health services, from prenatal care to contraception.”

Full post as published by ACS Blog on January 23, 2009 (boomark / email).