Obama To Lift 'Gag Rule', Restore Funding For Family Planning Groups

wsj.com:

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will issue an order restoring U.S. funding for international family-planning groups involved with abortion. But he chose not to do so on Thursday, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

President Obama was breaking with the tradition set by his recent predecessors to make an abortion-related order on the anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling, another example of his attempt to support liberal policies he believes in while trying to defuse emotional political debates.

Read the whole story: wsj.com

Comments

[carsntrucks]

04:57 PM on 01/23/2009

The problem is, we have absolutely no problem telling would-be fathers that if they want to avoid impregnating someone, they need to keep their pants up. We have no problem NOT sympathizing with would-be fathers if they sleep around in ANY capacity (be it a casual encounter or a committed relationship) and get a woman pregnant, because all we have to do is point to the fact that they knew the risk, took it anyway, so they need to be man enough to handle the outcome.

On the other hand, if I rewrote that sentence and replaced "man" with "woman", and "impregnate" with "get pregnant", I'm an anti-choice misogynist. THAT'S the eternal hypocrisy with abortion. We don't call men who get women pregnant victims in any capacity whatsoever. We don't even suggest it. But it's somehow OK to recast women who knowingly took the same risks as the man as victims of their biology, the right-wing, Christians, pro-lifers...basically anyone we can even sort of blame.

[Malamati]

04:35 PM on 01/23/2009

I am absolutely certain that I will have some strong points of disagreement with President Obama, but on this I say: Well done, Mr. President!

[lovered]

04:28 PM on 01/23/2009

I find it ineteresting how the argument is for womens freedom of "choice". Why can't they choose to be responsible in the first place and then an innocent life doesn't have to be detroyed. Don't give me the rape excuse.

[Malamati]

04:36 PM on 01/23/2009

Yawn.

[carsntrucks]

05:03 PM on 01/23/2009

Thank you SO MUCH for saying this. Why people act like the only choice available here is the one that ends with her paying a doctor a few hundred bucks to kill her unborn child is a mystery to me.

[BBC9nch]

03:51 PM on 01/23/2009

I part ways with BO on this one, keep abo-rtion legal yes but should it be paid for with tax dollars? Not to mention tax dollars going to international companies performing abor-tio.ns? I don't see this as a government responsibility. Where does it end?

[Malamati]

04:41 PM on 01/23/2009

"Where does it end?"

With better educated people in the developing world not having more children than the planet can support, thereby avoiding famine, disease, and conflicts that will eventually spill over the borders of various nations and come back to haunt us. Better to spend a small amount of our tax dollars on education and family planning than to spend exponentially more on protecting ourselves from the fallout of NOT doing so.

[bboyy]

04:58 PM on 01/23/2009

You get it. Sadly, adortions are cheaper than raising a child to maturity. I presonally believe we should give poor countrys birth control instead of aid / money.

[brynnrose thorn]

06:07 PM on 01/23/2009

Since abstinence-only is a really bad joke, access to contraception should REDUCE the need for abortions. Access to condoms should REDUCE the incidence of AIDS and other STDs. I can't imagine anyone objecting to this.

[NWBrunette]

01:57 PM on 01/23/2009

Why the delay? This is among the most deplorable, hurtful and wrong-headed acts of past right-wing administrations.

[BBC9nch]

04:01 PM on 01/23/2009

we must be reading two different articles, I think most opeople do notv want their tax money paying for someone elses abortion. Nothing wrong with complete medical information being given but I think most would disagree with Americans paying for abortions in foreign countries or the US.

[Malamati]

04:43 PM on 01/23/2009

It's all fine with me.

[lthuedk 1]

01:49 PM on 01/23/2009

The religionist choice haters certainly know how to be both manipulated and shockingly hypocritical.

http://www.light-to-dark.com/schiavo.html

[swift goat pet for truth]

01:45 PM on 01/23/2009

Obama advocates complete medical information.
It is so interesting to me how many people seem to be against this policy.

[BBC9nch]

03:55 PM on 01/23/2009

medical information I think most can agree with it. It goes farther than that. US tax dollars should not fund abortion. It is a private choice and should be paid for that way. Especially international groups in other countries. Why would US taxpayers want to be responsible for paying for abortions especially in a foriegn country?

[bboyy]

04:41 PM on 01/23/2009

but sending countrys guns and bombs is ok. What's the difference.

[unhhockey]

01:35 PM on 01/23/2009

This is the change you can believe in.

[Presto2112]

01:34 PM on 01/23/2009

He's got people on the left AND on the right pissed with him this early in, but for reasons of policy, not personality. To me, that means he's had an excellent week.

[deeppeace]

01:16 PM on 01/23/2009

Yesssssssss. But I think Thursday would have been the perfect day.

[AlP]

12:39 PM on 01/23/2009

Abortion is a done deal in America. It will never be overturned. Get over it. Don't want an abortion, don't have one. Mind your business.

[unhhockey]

01:37 PM on 01/23/2009

Unfortunately several more right-wing Supreme Court picks would have put it in jeopardy.

[BBC9nch]

03:56 PM on 01/23/2009

I agree, but I don't want my tax dollars paying for someone elses either.

[brynnrose thorn]

06:20 PM on 01/23/2009

There are a lot of thing I don't want my tax dollars being used for. One of them is paying for the religious services before each and every session of Congress. We can't always get what we want.

[Mk26gmls]

12:29 PM on 01/23/2009

This is one of the very few issues where I depart from President Obama's viewpoint.

[AlP]

12:40 PM on 01/23/2009

Good. He's done the right thing without the likes of you.

[noseysniper]

12:44 PM on 01/23/2009

Jeez, all he said was that he disagrees.

[Mk26gmls]

12:46 PM on 01/23/2009

Your right AIP. Abortions are so good. Every woman should have one. They are so wholesome.

[jillsond]

12:53 PM on 01/23/2009

Are you aware of what women will do to themselves if they don't have access to safe abortions? Do you care?

[Mk26gmls]

01:06 PM on 01/23/2009

Of course I do. Please don't start with that "you don't care about women or you hate women" line because I am oppose President Obama on this.

[Retrofuturistic]

12:01 PM on 01/23/2009

The sooner Obama gets moving on this, the better. We have been in the religion-induced Dark Ages long enough.

[AlP]

12:34 PM on 01/23/2009

Then why did he let Warren speak? Religion and government do not and should not EVER mix!

[Mk26gmls]

12:47 PM on 01/23/2009

I think you left out that pastor at the end of the inaugeration too in your post above, didn't you?

[Todd12345]

11:14 AM on 01/23/2009

Maybe I dont have the entire facts in order , but heres my thought . QUIT SPENDING TAX DOLLARS IN OTHER NATIONS ! How is it we continue to fund other nations problems without considering our own needs.
It absolutley appalls me that our schools have to do fund raisers to get by , that we have clothing and shoe drives to help those in need while sending money abroad , ABSURD !
I dont care if its abortion , healthcare aids whatever knock it off!

[Machun]

12:07 PM on 01/23/2009

Good idea, let start by cutting off funding for Israel's wars.

[Mk26gmls]

12:28 PM on 01/23/2009

You want the US to violate the Camp David Accords where we agreed to pay Israel and Egypt money/military hardware every year?

[Grannysue]

10:59 AM on 01/23/2009

Isn't it funny that the right wingers have merged abortion with birth control? They seem to believe that if you take birth control pills your commiting abortion. Sorry but the two are polar opposits.
I'm no fan of abortion, but I'll tell you this if the women in this country asked for legislation to be passed that forced all men to have vascosectomies after they had one or two kids the uproar would be heard world wide! So, women have every right to control what happens to their bodies.
It's also hestryical that they want women not to have abortion and have those babies but that's where it ends for them. They could care less if the woman was raped, or had health issues, or simply could not afford to have more children. Because they don't follow up to see how it turns out when she does have the child. Is the child living in poverty? being abused? nope for them it's we will tell you how to live until you have that kid then your on your own, no matter your age. We recently had a ten year old girl raped by her mother's boyfriend and she became pregnant, living in a well saturated morman onclave it was an uproar that she have that baby, . After she gave birth we've heard narry a word about what happend to her or the baby and I'm sure none of those people yelling about abortion gave a dam enough to find

[Mk26gmls]

01:17 PM on 01/23/2009

Blanket indictments of others are never fair nor are they rarely portrayed correctly.

I think that the overwhelming majority of anti-choice people would be very happy to see only abortions for rape, incest or the life of the mother over the current system that is in place. Also, I don't know anyone other than a few Catholic friends I know that view birth control and abortion in the same light. Also, several couples that I know that are anti-choice have adopted children in addition to their own children they have had during their marriage.

The broad brushing of political opponents is what we need to stop doing in this country.

[swift goat pet for truth]

01:21 PM on 01/23/2009

So why did Raygun and W ban pregnacy counselling?

[deeppeace]

01:21 PM on 01/23/2009

What your circle of friends think had no relevance to the Bush administration. Religious-right pressure included anything to do with reproductive rights, whether pre- or post-conception. Regrettably, cutting off birth control information had the additional effect of increading the occurrence of STDs because they so opposed the evil condoms.

[M1]

03:48 PM on 01/23/2009

Most excellent points. You can not force behavior. Free will is the ticket. How about social support, economic, educational, medical, flex jobs with medical care...the works. This will help women move towards life. The way it is now, if you are single, young, uneducated and pregnant you are economic history....your life is set at being ground down to bits. No mistake about it...and all those pro-lifers just want to vote against the right to choose instead of getting in the mix and making real changes that support life.

Equal pay legislation will help.