Obama quietly lifts ban on abortion funding

President signs executive order
President Obama didn't do it symbolically on the 36th anniversary Thursday of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in the United States.

But yesterday, he quietly signed an executive order ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that promote or perform abortions. In contrast to his orders earlier this week, including banning torture, reporters were not invited to record the moment.

The move reverses the rule put in place by the Bush administration; Republican and Democratic presidents have been reinstating and reversing the directive - called the "global gag rule" by critics - since President Reagan put it in place in 1984.

Last night, the White House issued a statement from Obama saying that the rule had "undermined efforts to promote safe and effective voluntary family planning in developing countries." "For too long, international family planning assistance has been used as a political wedge issue, the subject of a back and forth debate that has served only to divide us. I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate," he said.

Abortion rights groups, which supported Obama during the campaign with money and volunteers, have been pushing for the change in the policy. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, hailed the move, saying it "reinforces why elections matter and how new leadership can end divisive policies that harm women."

Senator John F. Kerry, the new chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, called the order "a very powerful signal to our neighbors around the world that the United States is once again back in the business of good public policy, and ideology no longer blunts our ability to save lives around the globe."

Groups opposed to abortion rights, , however, 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 said he plans to work with Congress to restore funding to the UN Population Fund. The Bush administration had barred US money from the fund, contending that its work in China supported a Chinese family planning policy of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization - an allegation the fund denied.