Obama ends ban on abortion funds

President Barack Obama continued his march to reverse contentious Bush administration policies, ending the ban on giving government money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information.

Mr Obama signed a memorandum last night, a day after he ordered the closures of the Guantanamo Bay prison and secret overseas CIA prisons, a review of military trials of terror suspects and a ban on torture.

The president’s focus on foreign policy comes even as he tries to deal with economic issues, Americans’ biggest concern at a time that the economy is struggling.

Yesterday he met Republican and Democratic leaders at the White House to discuss legislative hurdles as he strives to get his massive economic stimulus plan enacted.

Liberal groups welcomed Mr Obama’s decision on the abortion funding ban, while abortion rights foes criticised the president.

The abortion measure is a highly emotional one for many people and Mr Obama’s action came a day after the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v Wade ruling that legalised abortion.

Critics have long held that the rule unfairly discriminates against the world’s poor by denying US aid to groups that may be involved in abortion, but also work on other aspects of reproductive health care and HIV/Aids, leading to the closure of free and low-cost rural clinics.

But supporters of the ban say the US still provides millions of dollars in family planning assistance around the world and that the rule prevents anti-abortion taxpayers from backing something they believe is morally wrong.

The Bush policy reversed by Mr Obama had banned US taxpayer money, usually in the form of Agency for International Development funds, from going to international family planning groups that either offered abortions or provided information, counselling or referrals about abortion.

The rule had also banned government funding for groups that lobbied to legalise abortion or promote it as a family planning method.

Both Mr Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to scrap the rule during the presidential campaign.

“This policy has made it more difficult for women around the world to gain access to essential information and healthcare services,” Mrs Clinton said.

“Rather than limiting women’s ability to receive reproductive health services, we should be supporting programmes that help women and their partners make decisions to ensure their health and the health of their families.”

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.

In a move related to the lifting of the abortion rule, Mr Obama is also expected to restore funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), probably in the next budget.

Both he and Mrs Clinton had pledged to reverse a Bush administration ruling that assistance to the organisation broke US law.

The Bush administration had barred US money from the fund, saying that its work in China supported a Chinese family planning policy of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilisation. UNFPA has vehemently denied this.

Mr Obama is also expected at some point to lift or ease restrictions on government money for stem cell research, an issue that divides people along similar battle lines.

House of Representatives 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 does not act.

Some scientists want broader use of embryonic stem cells than is 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.