By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
New York Times
Published: May 14, 2009
WASHINGTON — In nearly four months in office, President Obama has pursued a careful two-pronged strategy on abortion, enacting policies that secure a woman’s right to the procedure while vowing to move beyond the culture wars that have divided the nation on the issue for more than three decades.
Now, Mr. Obama is suddenly in the thick of the battle he had hoped to transcend, and his delicate balancing act is being put to the test.
The confluence of two events — his commencement speech on Sunday at the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana, and his forthcoming choice of a candidate to replace Justice David H. Souter, who is retiring from the Supreme Court — threaten to upend Mr. Obama’s effort to “tamp down some of the anger” over abortion, as he said in a news conference last month, and to distract from his other domestic priorities, like health care.
The invitation from Notre Dame, a Roman Catholic institution, has riled opponents of abortion, who object to giving such a platform to a supporter of abortion rights. The local bishop has vowed to boycott the ceremony. Some graduating seniors are planning to protest it. Conservatives, frustrated by what they regard as Mr. Obama’s skillful efforts to paint himself as a moderate, are all over the airwaves denouncing him as “the most radical, pro-abortion of any American president,” as Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker, said on Fox News.
The White House must now decide whether to engage in the debate and, if so, how deeply. Mr. Obama’s communications adviser, Anita Dunn, said in an interview that the president was likely to “make reference to the controversy” in his speech on Sunday. “You can’t ignore it,” Ms. Dunn said, “but at the same time, you can’t allow it to become the focus of a day that’s actually supposed to be about the graduates.”
While the address has galvanized abortion opponents, the Supreme Court opening has galvanized backers of abortion rights. Both sides expect Mr. Obama to pick a candidate who would uphold Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. But interest groups are taking no chances. “Take Action: Protect a Woman’s Right to Choose!” declared the Center for Reproductive Rights in an e-mail message to supporters on Wednesday.
Mr. Obama frames his position on abortion as a nuanced one — he calls it a “a moral and ethical issue” best left to women and doctors — and he envisions himself forging consensus around causes like reducing unintended pregnancies and promoting adoption. As he said in a 2007 speech to Planned Parenthood, “Culture wars are so ’90s.”
As president, Mr. Obama, who during the campaign answered a question about when human life begins by saying it was “above my pay grade,” has tried to straddle the abortion divide. He has done so partly by reaching out to religious conservatives, partly by avoiding the most contentious legislative battles and partly by reversing the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, a faithful ally of abortion opponents, in piecemeal fashion — all while the nation has been consumed by the economic crisis.
He has named abortion rights advocates to top jobs; Dawn Johnsen, a former legal director of Naral Pro-Choice America, is his pick to run the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. He has repealed the so-called Mexico City rule, which prohibited tax dollars from going to organizations that provide abortions overseas; lifted Mr. Bush’s limits on embryonic stem cell research; stripped financing for abstinence-only sex education; and is seeking to undo a last-minute Bush regulation giving broad protections to health providers who refuse to take part in abortions.
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said she told allies that their movement was emerging from “eight years in the wilderness.”
But even as Mr. Obama has delighted abortion rights advocates, he has dialed back some earlier ambitions. In 2007, he promised Planned Parenthood that “the first thing I’d do as president” would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which effectively codifies Roe v. Wade. Now he says the bill is “not my highest legislative priority,” as he put it at a recent news conference.
Mr. Obama is also reaching out. At his direction, his top domestic policy adviser, Melody C. Barnes, is convening a series of discussions with people on both sides of the debate, with a goal to draft a set of policy recommendations by late summer.
“What we’ve said to people is, ‘This isn’t an opportunity to relitigate Roe v. Wade,’ ” Ms. Barnes said. “The president wants us to talk about reducing unintended pregnancies, but he doesn’t want this to be the conversation that never ends. His goal is to get something done.”
David P. Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University in Atlanta who backed Mr. Obama despite their differences on abortion, has participated in the talks. He said the president was sending a message to moderate Catholics and evangelicals that “he clearly knows what the bright red lines are and is trying to avoid stepping over them.”
But religious conservatives and more ardent abortion opponents who have not been included say Mr. Obama is trying to have it both ways. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, an advocacy group, said that if the president really wanted to forge consensus, he would advocate rules allowing parents to be notified if their teenage daughters sought an abortion and banning the procedure known as partial-birth abortion. As an Illinois state senator, Mr. Obama voted “present” on such initiatives, enabling their defeat.
“Moderate rhetoric, hard-left policies,” said Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, a vocal abortion opponent, assessing Mr. Obama’s approach.
Polls show that the American public is deeply conflicted over abortion and that support has declined steadily over the years. In 1995, roughly 60 percent of Americans believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Last month, in a survey by the Pew Research Center, that number stood at 46 percent. A Gallup survey that examined seven decisions early in Mr. Obama’s presidency found that the least popular was the one to overturn the ban on sending tax dollars to organizations that provide abortions overseas.
Douglas W. Kmiec, a constitutional scholar and former Notre Dame professor who was an outspoken critic of abortion when he worked for Presidents Ronald Reagan and the elder George Bush, said he had been advising the White House to use the speech at the university on Sunday to tackle the controversy head on, with the president making the case that “we already have agreement, we both respect life, we both view abortion as a moral tragedy.”
But as to whether Mr. Obama can indeed transcend the culture wars, Mr. Kmiec sounded uncertain.
“If there’s anybody who can, it’s the president,” he said. “Whether the culture wars will let him is the question, and the answer is unknown.”
Sphere: Related Content
Showing posts with label Abortion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abortion. Show all posts
Friday, May 15, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
OBAMA V POPE:
Senior Vatican figures criticise Obama
PADDY AGNEW in Rome
www.IrishTimes.com
SENIOR VATICAN figures have criticised President Barack Obama on the same day that it was officially confirmed that the Pope had lifted the 1988 excommunication of four traditionalist “Lefebvre” bishops.
On Saturday, Msgr Rino Fisichella and Msgr Elio Sgreccia, two senior figures at the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, and the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano , were all critical of President Obama’s decision to rescind the so-called “Mexico City Policy”.
This policy banned the granting of US foreign aid to family planning organisations which advocate or provide abortion services.
Introduced by president Reagan in 1984, it was rescinded by president Clinton in 1993 before being reinstated by George W Bush in 2001.
“Of all the good things he could have done, he [President Obama] has chosen the worst. This is a hard blow not just for us Catholics but also for all those who want to fight against the slaughter of the innocents that is brought about through abortion,” said Msgr Sgreccia, president emeritus of the academy.
The concerted Vatican criticism of President Obama contrasts with what, until now, has been the generally warm reception afforded him by Pope Benedict. Since his election victory the pope has sent two telegrams of congratulation to President Obama.
Pope Benedict prompted criticism on Saturday with his decision to lift the 1988 excommunication of four traditionalist “Lefebvre” bishops, members of the Society of St Pius X.
Pointing out that one of the four bishops, Richard Williamson, is a Holocaust denier, Rabbi David Rosen, of the American Jewish Committee, called the pope’s decision “shameful”, adding that it was “a serious blow for Jewish-Vatican relations”.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times Sphere: Related Content
PADDY AGNEW in Rome
www.IrishTimes.com
SENIOR VATICAN figures have criticised President Barack Obama on the same day that it was officially confirmed that the Pope had lifted the 1988 excommunication of four traditionalist “Lefebvre” bishops.
On Saturday, Msgr Rino Fisichella and Msgr Elio Sgreccia, two senior figures at the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, and the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano , were all critical of President Obama’s decision to rescind the so-called “Mexico City Policy”.
This policy banned the granting of US foreign aid to family planning organisations which advocate or provide abortion services.
Introduced by president Reagan in 1984, it was rescinded by president Clinton in 1993 before being reinstated by George W Bush in 2001.
“Of all the good things he could have done, he [President Obama] has chosen the worst. This is a hard blow not just for us Catholics but also for all those who want to fight against the slaughter of the innocents that is brought about through abortion,” said Msgr Sgreccia, president emeritus of the academy.
The concerted Vatican criticism of President Obama contrasts with what, until now, has been the generally warm reception afforded him by Pope Benedict. Since his election victory the pope has sent two telegrams of congratulation to President Obama.
Pope Benedict prompted criticism on Saturday with his decision to lift the 1988 excommunication of four traditionalist “Lefebvre” bishops, members of the Society of St Pius X.
Pointing out that one of the four bishops, Richard Williamson, is a Holocaust denier, Rabbi David Rosen, of the American Jewish Committee, called the pope’s decision “shameful”, adding that it was “a serious blow for Jewish-Vatican relations”.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times Sphere: Related Content
Funding Restored to Groups That Perform Abortions, Other Care
By Rob Stein and Michael Shear
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, January 24, 2009; Page A03
President Obama yesterday lifted a ban on U.S. funding for international health groups that perform abortions, promote legalizing the procedure or provide counseling about terminating pregnancies.
Obama issued a memorandum rescinding the Mexico City Policy, also known as the "global gag rule," which President Ronald Reagan originally instituted in 1984, President Bill Clinton reversed in 1993 and President George W. Bush revived in 2001.
The memorandum revokes Bush's order, calling the limitations on funding "excessively broad" and adding that "they have undermined efforts to promote safe and effective voluntary family programs in foreign nations." In an accompanying statement, Obama said he would also work with Congress to restore U.S. funding support for the United Nations Population Fund "to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries."
Obama's decision was praised by family planning groups, women's health advocates and others for allowing the U.S. Agency for International Development to once again provide millions of dollars to programs offering medical services, birth control, HIV prevention and other care.
"For eight long years, the global gag rule has been used by the Bush administration to play politics with the lives of poor women across the world," said Gill Greer of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in London.
The decision marked Obama's latest break with his predecessor. The order Bush signed reviving the policy was the first of his administration and was signed on his first day in office, whereas Obama's first -- signed Thursday -- ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
The decision also appeared to be another sign of Obama's attempts try to bridge even the widest political divides. Obama signed the order one day later than had been expected -- avoiding the confrontational step of doing so on the same day that thousands of abortion opponents participated in a March for Life on the Mall to protest the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States.
Jim Wallis of the progressive evangelical group Sojourners praised Obama for not signing the order on the day of the march and instead marking the day by issuing his first presidential statement about abortion, which called on all sides to find common ground, such as working to reduce abortions.
"President Obama showed respect for both sides in the historically polarized abortion debate, and called for both a new conversation and a new common ground. I hope that this important gesture signals the beginning of a new approach and a new path toward finding some real solutions to decrease the number of abortions in this country and around the world," Wallis said.
The rescission order was signed late in the day yesterday without any reporters, news photographers or television cameras present, in marked contrast to elaborate ceremonies highlighting orders Obama signed earlier in the week.
Nevertheless, the move was condemned by members of Congress opposed to abortion and by leading antiabortion groups.
"Yesterday, President Obama issued executive orders banning the torture of terrorists but today signed an order that exports the torture of unborn children around the world," said Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.
Abortion rights advocates are also pushing to increase funding for reproductive health programs, to cut funding for sex education programs that focus on abstinence, and to reverse a recently implemented Health and Human Services regulation that protects health-care workers who object to providing any care they consider objectionable, including abortion.
"We look forward to working with President Obama on common-sense policies such as reversing Bush's midnight HHS rule, funding comprehensive sex education to keep our teens healthy, and increasing access to affordable family planning that help prevent unintended and teen pregnancies and lead to healthy outcomes for women," said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Lifting the Mexico City Policy would not permit U.S. tax dollars to be used for abortions, but it would allow funding to resume to groups that provide other services, including counseling about abortions. Sphere: Related Content
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, January 24, 2009; Page A03
President Obama yesterday lifted a ban on U.S. funding for international health groups that perform abortions, promote legalizing the procedure or provide counseling about terminating pregnancies.
Obama issued a memorandum rescinding the Mexico City Policy, also known as the "global gag rule," which President Ronald Reagan originally instituted in 1984, President Bill Clinton reversed in 1993 and President George W. Bush revived in 2001.
The memorandum revokes Bush's order, calling the limitations on funding "excessively broad" and adding that "they have undermined efforts to promote safe and effective voluntary family programs in foreign nations." In an accompanying statement, Obama said he would also work with Congress to restore U.S. funding support for the United Nations Population Fund "to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries."
Obama's decision was praised by family planning groups, women's health advocates and others for allowing the U.S. Agency for International Development to once again provide millions of dollars to programs offering medical services, birth control, HIV prevention and other care.
"For eight long years, the global gag rule has been used by the Bush administration to play politics with the lives of poor women across the world," said Gill Greer of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in London.
The decision marked Obama's latest break with his predecessor. The order Bush signed reviving the policy was the first of his administration and was signed on his first day in office, whereas Obama's first -- signed Thursday -- ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
The decision also appeared to be another sign of Obama's attempts try to bridge even the widest political divides. Obama signed the order one day later than had been expected -- avoiding the confrontational step of doing so on the same day that thousands of abortion opponents participated in a March for Life on the Mall to protest the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States.
Jim Wallis of the progressive evangelical group Sojourners praised Obama for not signing the order on the day of the march and instead marking the day by issuing his first presidential statement about abortion, which called on all sides to find common ground, such as working to reduce abortions.
"President Obama showed respect for both sides in the historically polarized abortion debate, and called for both a new conversation and a new common ground. I hope that this important gesture signals the beginning of a new approach and a new path toward finding some real solutions to decrease the number of abortions in this country and around the world," Wallis said.
The rescission order was signed late in the day yesterday without any reporters, news photographers or television cameras present, in marked contrast to elaborate ceremonies highlighting orders Obama signed earlier in the week.
Nevertheless, the move was condemned by members of Congress opposed to abortion and by leading antiabortion groups.
"Yesterday, President Obama issued executive orders banning the torture of terrorists but today signed an order that exports the torture of unborn children around the world," said Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.
Abortion rights advocates are also pushing to increase funding for reproductive health programs, to cut funding for sex education programs that focus on abstinence, and to reverse a recently implemented Health and Human Services regulation that protects health-care workers who object to providing any care they consider objectionable, including abortion.
"We look forward to working with President Obama on common-sense policies such as reversing Bush's midnight HHS rule, funding comprehensive sex education to keep our teens healthy, and increasing access to affordable family planning that help prevent unintended and teen pregnancies and lead to healthy outcomes for women," said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Lifting the Mexico City Policy would not permit U.S. tax dollars to be used for abortions, but it would allow funding to resume to groups that provide other services, including counseling about abortions. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, January 23, 2009
AP: Obama reverses Bush abortion-funds policy
By MATTHEW LEE and LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information — an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century.
Obama's move, the latest in an aggressive first week reversing contentious Bush policies, was warmly welcomed by liberal groups and denounced by abortion rights foes.
The ban has been a political football between Democratic and Republican administrations since GOP President Ronald Reagan first adopted it 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.
"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," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate."
He said the ban was unnecessarily broad and undermined family planning in developing countries.
"In the coming weeks, my administration will initiate a fresh conversation on family planning, working to find areas of common ground to best meet the needs of women and families at home and around the world," the president said.
Obama issued the presidential memorandum rescinding the Bush policy without coverage by the media, late Friday afternoon. The abortion measure is a highly emotional one for many people, and the quiet signing was in contrast to the televised coverage of Obama's announcement Wednesday on ethics rules and Thursday's signing of orders on closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and banning torture in the questioning of terror suspects.
His action came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion.
The Bush policy had banned U.S. taxpayer money, usually in the form of Agency for International Development funds, from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion as a family planning method.
Critics have long held that the rule unfairly discriminates against the world's poor by denying U.S. 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.
Supporters of the ban say that the United States 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 ban has been known as the "Mexico City policy" for the city a U.S. delegation first announced it at a U.N. International Conference on Population.
Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to do away with the rule during the presidential campaign.
Clinton said Friday evening that for seven years Bush's policy made it more difficult for women around the world to gain access to essential information and health care services. "Rather than limiting women's ability to receive reproductive health services, we should be supporting programs that help women and their partners make decisions to ensure their health and the health of their families," Clinton said.
In a related move, Obama also said he would restore funding to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). Both he and Clinton had pledged to reverse a Bush administration determination that assistance to the organization violated U.S. law known as the Kemp-Kasten amendment.
Obama, in his statement, said he looked forward to working with Congress to fulfill that promise: "By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S. will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries."
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund, said: "The president's actions send a strong message about his leadership and his desire to support causes that will promote peace and dignity, equality for women and girls and economic development in the poorest regions of the world."
"We are confident that under the new president's direction, the U.S. will resume its leadership in promoting and protecting women's reproductive health and rights worldwide," Obaid said in a statement issued at U.N. headquarters in New York.
The Bush administration had barred U.S. money from the fund, contending that its work in China supported a Chinese family planning policy of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization. UNFPA has vehemently denied that it does.
Congress had appropriated $40 million to the UNFPA in the past budget year, but the administration had withheld the money as it had done every year since 2002.
Organizations and lawmakers that had pressed Obama to rescind the Mexico City policy were jubilant.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the move "will help save lives and empower the poorest women and families to improve their quality of life and their future."
"Today's announcement is 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," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Population Action International, an advocacy group, said that the policy had "severely impacted" women's health and that the step "will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and women dying from high-risk pregnancies because they don't have access to family planning."
Anti-abortion groups and lawmakers condemned Obama's decision.
"I have long supported the Mexico City Policy and believe this administration's decision to be counter to our nation's interests," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
"Coming just one day after the 36th anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade decision, this presidential directive forces taxpayers to subsidize abortions overseas — something no American should be required by government to do," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., called it "morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans to promote abortion around the world."
"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. Sphere: Related Content
Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information — an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century.
Obama's move, the latest in an aggressive first week reversing contentious Bush policies, was warmly welcomed by liberal groups and denounced by abortion rights foes.
The ban has been a political football between Democratic and Republican administrations since GOP President Ronald Reagan first adopted it 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.
"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," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate."
He said the ban was unnecessarily broad and undermined family planning in developing countries.
"In the coming weeks, my administration will initiate a fresh conversation on family planning, working to find areas of common ground to best meet the needs of women and families at home and around the world," the president said.
Obama issued the presidential memorandum rescinding the Bush policy without coverage by the media, late Friday afternoon. The abortion measure is a highly emotional one for many people, and the quiet signing was in contrast to the televised coverage of Obama's announcement Wednesday on ethics rules and Thursday's signing of orders on closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and banning torture in the questioning of terror suspects.
His action came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion.
The Bush policy had banned U.S. taxpayer money, usually in the form of Agency for International Development funds, from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion as a family planning method.
Critics have long held that the rule unfairly discriminates against the world's poor by denying U.S. 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.
Supporters of the ban say that the United States 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 ban has been known as the "Mexico City policy" for the city a U.S. delegation first announced it at a U.N. International Conference on Population.
Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to do away with the rule during the presidential campaign.
Clinton said Friday evening that for seven years Bush's policy made it more difficult for women around the world to gain access to essential information and health care services. "Rather than limiting women's ability to receive reproductive health services, we should be supporting programs that help women and their partners make decisions to ensure their health and the health of their families," Clinton said.
In a related move, Obama also said he would restore funding to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). Both he and Clinton had pledged to reverse a Bush administration determination that assistance to the organization violated U.S. law known as the Kemp-Kasten amendment.
Obama, in his statement, said he looked forward to working with Congress to fulfill that promise: "By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S. will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries."
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund, said: "The president's actions send a strong message about his leadership and his desire to support causes that will promote peace and dignity, equality for women and girls and economic development in the poorest regions of the world."
"We are confident that under the new president's direction, the U.S. will resume its leadership in promoting and protecting women's reproductive health and rights worldwide," Obaid said in a statement issued at U.N. headquarters in New York.
The Bush administration had barred U.S. money from the fund, contending that its work in China supported a Chinese family planning policy of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization. UNFPA has vehemently denied that it does.
Congress had appropriated $40 million to the UNFPA in the past budget year, but the administration had withheld the money as it had done every year since 2002.
Organizations and lawmakers that had pressed Obama to rescind the Mexico City policy were jubilant.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the move "will help save lives and empower the poorest women and families to improve their quality of life and their future."
"Today's announcement is 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," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Population Action International, an advocacy group, said that the policy had "severely impacted" women's health and that the step "will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and women dying from high-risk pregnancies because they don't have access to family planning."
Anti-abortion groups and lawmakers condemned Obama's decision.
"I have long supported the Mexico City Policy and believe this administration's decision to be counter to our nation's interests," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
"Coming just one day after the 36th anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade decision, this presidential directive forces taxpayers to subsidize abortions overseas — something no American should be required by government to do," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., called it "morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans to promote abortion around the world."
"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. Sphere: Related Content
Pence introduces Abortion Provider Prohibition Act
Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) introduced the H.R. 61 into the House of Representatives prohibiting family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions. He has already picked up 61 co-sponsors. Will Nancy Pelosi allow this to be heard before the whole House? Will President Obama veto this?
If you support this concept, and your representative is not listed here, please contact them and voice your support.
Here is the full text of the pending legislation.
HR 614 IH 111th CONGRESS 1st Session
H. R. 614
To amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 21, 2009
Mr. PENCE (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. PITTS, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. COLE, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. TERRY, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. INGLIS, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. PAUL, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. HERGER, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. AKIN, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. OLSON, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. HARPER, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Ms. FOXX, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. LINDER, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. JORDAN of Ohio, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, and Mr. MCCLINTOCK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act'.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ABORTION.
Title X of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
`SEC. 1009. ADDITIONAL PROHIBITION REGARDING ABORTION.
`(a) Prohibition- The Secretary shall not provide any assistance under this title to an entity unless the entity certifies that, during the period of such assistance, the entity will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion.
`(b) Exception- Subsection (a) does not apply with respect to an abortion where--
`(1) the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape, or an act of incest against a minor; or
`(2) a physician certifies that the woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-threatening physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.
`(c) Hospitals- Subsection (a) does not apply with respect to a hospital, so long as such hospital does not, during the period of assistance described in subsection (a), provide funds to any non-hospital entity that performs an abortion (other than an abortion described in subsection (b)).
`(d) Annual Report- Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, and annually thereafter, for the fiscal year involved, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress containing--
`(1) a list of each entity receiving a grant under this title;
`(2) for each such entity performing abortions under the exceptions described in subsection (b)-
`(A) the total number of such abortions;
`(B) the number of such abortions where the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape;
`(C) the number of such abortions where the pregnancy is the result of an act of incest against a minor; and
`(D) the number of such abortions where a physician provides a certification described in subsection (b)(2);
`(3) a statement of the date of the latest certification under subsection (a) for each entity receiving a grant under this title; and
`(4) a list of each entity to which an entity described in paragraph (1) makes available funds received through a grant under this title.
`(e) Definitions- In this section:
`(1) The term `entity' means the entire legal entity, including any entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with such entity.
`(2) The term `hospital' has the meaning given to such term in section 1861(e) of the Social Security Act.'. Sphere: Related Content
If you support this concept, and your representative is not listed here, please contact them and voice your support.
Here is the full text of the pending legislation.
HR 614 IH 111th CONGRESS 1st Session
H. R. 614
To amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 21, 2009
Mr. PENCE (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. PITTS, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. COLE, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. TERRY, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. INGLIS, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. PAUL, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. HERGER, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. AKIN, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. OLSON, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. HARPER, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Ms. FOXX, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. LINDER, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. JORDAN of Ohio, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, and Mr. MCCLINTOCK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act'.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ABORTION.
Title X of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
`SEC. 1009. ADDITIONAL PROHIBITION REGARDING ABORTION.
`(a) Prohibition- The Secretary shall not provide any assistance under this title to an entity unless the entity certifies that, during the period of such assistance, the entity will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion.
`(b) Exception- Subsection (a) does not apply with respect to an abortion where--
`(1) the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape, or an act of incest against a minor; or
`(2) a physician certifies that the woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-threatening physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.
`(c) Hospitals- Subsection (a) does not apply with respect to a hospital, so long as such hospital does not, during the period of assistance described in subsection (a), provide funds to any non-hospital entity that performs an abortion (other than an abortion described in subsection (b)).
`(d) Annual Report- Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, and annually thereafter, for the fiscal year involved, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress containing--
`(1) a list of each entity receiving a grant under this title;
`(2) for each such entity performing abortions under the exceptions described in subsection (b)-
`(A) the total number of such abortions;
`(B) the number of such abortions where the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape;
`(C) the number of such abortions where the pregnancy is the result of an act of incest against a minor; and
`(D) the number of such abortions where a physician provides a certification described in subsection (b)(2);
`(3) a statement of the date of the latest certification under subsection (a) for each entity receiving a grant under this title; and
`(4) a list of each entity to which an entity described in paragraph (1) makes available funds received through a grant under this title.
`(e) Definitions- In this section:
`(1) The term `entity' means the entire legal entity, including any entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with such entity.
`(2) The term `hospital' has the meaning given to such term in section 1861(e) of the Social Security Act.'. Sphere: Related Content
Obama’s Pro-Abortion Views Fuel Pro-Life Defiance in March for Life
By Penny Starr
Senior Staff Writer
(CNSNews.com) - Just 48 hours after Barack Obama took the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol, hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the National Mall to ask the new president to break his campaign promise to adopt pro-abortion policies.
Held on the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, the 36th annual March for Life on Thursday drew pro-life activists from around the country for a rally on the mall and a massive march down Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill.
But this year’s event differed from those in the past as speakers and banners sent a message to Obama and a signal that his election has energized the pro-life movement.
Former California Congressman Bob Dornan said he was repeating words from Obama’s inaugural speech to send that message.
“We send it back to you,” Dornan said. “We will not apologize for our way of life – or love of life -- nor will we waver in its defense, and for those of you who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror (and, media are you listening, abortion is terror) and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”
Dornan added: “We will defeat the culture of death or we will perish as a nation.” Joining the traditional “Choose Life” and “Stop Abortion” placards and banners, this year’s crowd held signs addressed to the new administration. “President Obama, don’t condemn our children to death,” one sign read. “No Freedom of Choice Act.”
“Obama said ‘Those who slaughter the innocent will be destroyed. Babies are innocent,’” read another sign.
Earlier in the day, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) held its annual pre-March for Life press conference at the National Press Club, which also targeted Obama’s pro-abortion stance and his affiliation with pro-abortion groups.
Press packages included a brochure, “The Obama Abortion Agenda,” spelling out the policies his administration has promised to put in place, including the federal funding of abortions and the organizations that promote or perform abortion, and passage of the Freedom of Choice Act, which would strike down all state and federal laws limiting abortion, including parental notification laws and making partial-birth abortion legal again.
Olivia Gans, director of the NRLC’s American Victims of Abortion, said that the pro-life movement is already reacting to Obama’s election.
“I can tell you that already since the election of Mr. Obama I have heard of numerous new National Right to Life affiliate groups springing up, new chapters within our state organizations,” Gans said. “I have the invitations in my hand to prove that there are people interested in learning about what’s happening under this new hardcore, pro-abortion extremist administration that Mr. Obama represents.”
Wanda Franz, president of the NRLC, said she thinks the new president will be hearing from his constituents in the pro-life community.
“When people out there become aware of what’s going to happen as these changes occur, I think that we can help to bring those people back into the public eye and they’ll begin to realize that they have to put pressure on this new president,” Franz said. “They voted for him because they counted on him doing things they wanted him to do, and when he begins to be very pro-abortion in his policies, I think you’ll see people who voted for him coming forward and trying to change his mind.
Franz and other NRLC officials cited statistics that they said show that the pro-life movement has saved millions of lives by decreasing abortions, and that states across the country have enacted pro-life legislation, including laws that require a pregnant woman to view an ultrasound image of her unborn child before having an abortion.
But one thing remained constant at all of the pro-life activities taking place in Washington, D.C., this week. People of many faiths and backgrounds bowed their heads and prayed for an end to abortion.
Franz said that those prayers extend beyond the March for Life and are aimed directly at President Obama. Sphere: Related Content
Senior Staff Writer
(CNSNews.com) - Just 48 hours after Barack Obama took the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol, hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the National Mall to ask the new president to break his campaign promise to adopt pro-abortion policies.
Held on the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, the 36th annual March for Life on Thursday drew pro-life activists from around the country for a rally on the mall and a massive march down Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill.
But this year’s event differed from those in the past as speakers and banners sent a message to Obama and a signal that his election has energized the pro-life movement.
Former California Congressman Bob Dornan said he was repeating words from Obama’s inaugural speech to send that message.
“We send it back to you,” Dornan said. “We will not apologize for our way of life – or love of life -- nor will we waver in its defense, and for those of you who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror (and, media are you listening, abortion is terror) and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”
Dornan added: “We will defeat the culture of death or we will perish as a nation.” Joining the traditional “Choose Life” and “Stop Abortion” placards and banners, this year’s crowd held signs addressed to the new administration. “President Obama, don’t condemn our children to death,” one sign read. “No Freedom of Choice Act.”
“Obama said ‘Those who slaughter the innocent will be destroyed. Babies are innocent,’” read another sign.
Earlier in the day, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) held its annual pre-March for Life press conference at the National Press Club, which also targeted Obama’s pro-abortion stance and his affiliation with pro-abortion groups.
Press packages included a brochure, “The Obama Abortion Agenda,” spelling out the policies his administration has promised to put in place, including the federal funding of abortions and the organizations that promote or perform abortion, and passage of the Freedom of Choice Act, which would strike down all state and federal laws limiting abortion, including parental notification laws and making partial-birth abortion legal again.
Olivia Gans, director of the NRLC’s American Victims of Abortion, said that the pro-life movement is already reacting to Obama’s election.
“I can tell you that already since the election of Mr. Obama I have heard of numerous new National Right to Life affiliate groups springing up, new chapters within our state organizations,” Gans said. “I have the invitations in my hand to prove that there are people interested in learning about what’s happening under this new hardcore, pro-abortion extremist administration that Mr. Obama represents.”
Wanda Franz, president of the NRLC, said she thinks the new president will be hearing from his constituents in the pro-life community.
“When people out there become aware of what’s going to happen as these changes occur, I think that we can help to bring those people back into the public eye and they’ll begin to realize that they have to put pressure on this new president,” Franz said. “They voted for him because they counted on him doing things they wanted him to do, and when he begins to be very pro-abortion in his policies, I think you’ll see people who voted for him coming forward and trying to change his mind.
Franz and other NRLC officials cited statistics that they said show that the pro-life movement has saved millions of lives by decreasing abortions, and that states across the country have enacted pro-life legislation, including laws that require a pregnant woman to view an ultrasound image of her unborn child before having an abortion.
But one thing remained constant at all of the pro-life activities taking place in Washington, D.C., this week. People of many faiths and backgrounds bowed their heads and prayed for an end to abortion.
Franz said that those prayers extend beyond the March for Life and are aimed directly at President Obama. Sphere: Related Content
On 36th Anniversary, Obama Praises Roe v. Wade Precedent
By Michael Falcone
New York Times Blog
President Barack Obama reaffirmed his commitment to protecting abortion rights on Wednesday, the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, and said that it “stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.”
In a written statement issued on his second full day in office, Mr. Obama acknowledged the deep tensions that have persisted through the decades over abortion.
But, he said, “no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make.”
Mr. Obama’s position has anti-abortion groups worried. The president of National Right to Life, Wanda Franz, predicted that the president would pursue a “radical agenda” and on his watch, the number of abortions would “increase dramatically.”
And on the National Mall, where millions gathered on Tuesday to witness Mr. Obama’s inauguration, tens of thousands held a rally today marking the Roe v. Wade anniversary, followed by a march to the steps of the Supreme Court.
The statement from Mr. Obama today contrasts with the warm greeting abortion opponents received from President George W. Bush on the same day last year. At a reception at the White House on Jan. 22, 2008, Mr. Bush told March for Life participants that he was “proud to be standing with” them.
“I see people with a deep conviction that even the most vulnerable member of the human family is a child of God,” Mr. Bush said at the time. “You’re here because you know that all life deserves to be protected.”
There was also speculation about whether President Obama would use today’s anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision to reverse the so-called “Mexico City policy,” which forbids the flow of federal money to international family planning organizations that provide abortions or related services and counseling.
The policy, which President Ronald Reagan put in place in 1984, was repealed by President Clinton early in his term. President Bush’s reinstated the ban in his first executive order on Jan. 22, 2001. Sphere: Related Content
New York Times Blog
President Barack Obama reaffirmed his commitment to protecting abortion rights on Wednesday, the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, and said that it “stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.”
In a written statement issued on his second full day in office, Mr. Obama acknowledged the deep tensions that have persisted through the decades over abortion.
But, he said, “no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make.”
Mr. Obama’s position has anti-abortion groups worried. The president of National Right to Life, Wanda Franz, predicted that the president would pursue a “radical agenda” and on his watch, the number of abortions would “increase dramatically.”
And on the National Mall, where millions gathered on Tuesday to witness Mr. Obama’s inauguration, tens of thousands held a rally today marking the Roe v. Wade anniversary, followed by a march to the steps of the Supreme Court.
The statement from Mr. Obama today contrasts with the warm greeting abortion opponents received from President George W. Bush on the same day last year. At a reception at the White House on Jan. 22, 2008, Mr. Bush told March for Life participants that he was “proud to be standing with” them.
“I see people with a deep conviction that even the most vulnerable member of the human family is a child of God,” Mr. Bush said at the time. “You’re here because you know that all life deserves to be protected.”
There was also speculation about whether President Obama would use today’s anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision to reverse the so-called “Mexico City policy,” which forbids the flow of federal money to international family planning organizations that provide abortions or related services and counseling.
The policy, which President Ronald Reagan put in place in 1984, was repealed by President Clinton early in his term. President Bush’s reinstated the ban in his first executive order on Jan. 22, 2001. Sphere: Related Content
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