Obama reverses Bush's ban on abortion funding abroad

U.S. President Barack Obama reversed a ban implemented by his predecessor, George W. Bush, on funding for international groups thatperform abortions or provide information about the procedures to womenabroad, the White House said Friday.

"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.

It is the latest in a series of tit-for-tat executive orders surrounding the contentious issue of abortionas Democratic and Republican presidents replaced each otherover the past 28 years.

Thememorandum, which Obamasigned late Friday afternoonwithout media fanfare, wasimmediatelylauded bypro-choicegroups. Anti-abortion advocates criticized the presidentfor what they said was a betrayal ofhis campaignpledge to support policies thatreduced the number of abortions.

In one of his first acts as president inJanuary2001, Bush, whoopposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman's life,orderedfederalfunding be cut offtointernational groupsthat either offer abortions or provide information, counselling or referrals about abortion.

The banis also known by criticsas the "global gag rule," because it prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that even talk about abortion if there is an unplanned pregnancy.

Pro-choice and women's health groupsargued the banlimited the reproductive rights of women in developing countries andincreasedthe chances of women around the worlddying from high-risk pregnancies because they lacked access to family planning.

Dropped by Clinton

Two former Republicanpresidents, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, had similar bans in place.

One of the first things Democrat Bill Clintondid when he assumed office in 1993 was to rescind the order.

Obama'sordercame one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade that legalized abortion in the United States.

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 move related to the lifting of the abortion rule, Obama is also expected to restore funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), probably in the next federal budget. 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.

The memorandumfollows other executive ordersthe new presidentsigned in his first few days in office to reverse other Bush administration policies.

They include an order toclose the controversial detention centreat Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year and banningU.S. officials fromusing coercive interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects.