Obama Overturns Controversial Mexico City Ban On Family Planning Overseas Funding

President Obama Friday lifted a ban on U.S. funding for international health groups that perform abortions, promote legalizing the procedure or provide counseling about terminating pregnancies.

Under the ban, groups that performed abortions were effectively cut off from U.S. aid money, which had the consequence also eliminating funding for HIV/AIDS education in developing nations. By denying funding, the Bush administration may have unwittingly contributed to the AIDS pandemic in many of developing nations.

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. During Reagan's tenure, the former president was slow to acknowledge the AIDS epidemic, which potentially delayed the development of the retroviral drugs of the 1990s.

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."

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. Information courtesy Washington Post with additional information provided by blogger.