Reminder: What George W did on his FIRST DAY IN OFFICE!
Who remembers this?
Bush bans funds for international family planning groups that support abortion
By Kate Randall
24 January 2001
In one of his first actions as president, George W. Bush on Monday reinstated a ban first initiated under the Reagan administration which will deny US aid to international organizations that use their own money to provide abortions, counsel women on abortions or support pro-abortion lobbying of foreign governments. Clinton had lifted the ban—known among its opponents as the “global gag rule”—when he assumed office in 1993.
Bush timed his announcement to coincide with the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision of the US Supreme Court legalizing abortion. Thousands of anti-abortionists rallied outside the high court in Washington on Monday in their annual rally calling for the overturning of a woman's right to choose. The “right to life” forces, feeling emboldened with an ally in the White House, carried signs such as “Michigan Loves Our Pro-Life President” and “It's War! Baby.” A message from Bush was read out to the crowd, which said in part: “We share a great goal: to work toward a day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law.”
International family planning organizations, however, were quick to point out that the effect of Bush's initiative will lead not to “a culture of life” but to increased poverty, suffering and death. It will result in the cutoff of family planning funds to some of the world's most impoverished women and families in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Critics note that as a result more women will be denied contraceptive services, face unwanted pregnancies and die as a result of childbirth or illegal abortions. Funds for programs aimed at stopping sexual transmission of the HIV virus that causes AIDS will also be impacted, resulting in more disease and death.
Bush Bans Aid to Abortion Support Groups Overseas
Politics: President's action on first workday eclipses effort to focus on education. Protesters marking the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade roar approval at the news.
January 23, 2001|JAMES GERSTENZANG and JANET HOOK | TIMES STAFF WRITERS
WASHINGTON — President Bush, on his first Monday in office, blocked government grants to international family planning groups that pay for abortions or abortion counseling with their own money.
Bush's decision, one of the first of his administration, reversed eight years of Clinton administration policy, turning the clock back to a policy established by President Reagan. It also overshadowed the new president's plan to focus his administration immediately on education reform.
In an executive order, Bush declared that "taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion, either here or abroad." However, the federal government has not directly used its funds to pay for abortions overseas since 1973.
The day's events offered Bush a lesson on the extent and limit of presidential power. It also reminded Republicans in Congress, who fought with President Clinton annually over the abortion policy, of just how much new leverage they wield.
"That's when it really sinks in that it's a whole new world," said Michele Davis, spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas). "We fought for half a loaf with Clinton and now it's done with the stroke of a pen."
But other Republicans showed that leading Congress can be like riding a tiger, because it is an institution with many competing agendas.
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jan/23/news/mn-15827
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