From the ABC:
Obama lifts restrictions on abortion funding
US President Barack Obama has lifted restrictions on US government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counselling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W Bush, a spokesman said.
The Democratic president's decision was a victory for advocates of abortion rights on an issue that in recent years has become a tit-for-tat policy change each time the White House shifts from one party to the other.
When the ban was in place, no US government funding for family planning services could be given to clinics or groups that offer abortion services or counselling in other countries even if the funds for those activities come from non-US. government sources.
Mr Obama signed an executive order lifting the restrictions on Friday (local time), a White House spokesman said.
Doesn't surprise me at all. I am afraid President Obama will keep all of his promises. We will hardly recognize our own country in 2012. Can I send a few Guantanamo detainees to your beautiful country? I know he has no plan of where they are going once he closes it down.
ReplyDeleteWe already knocked back that invitation!I agree that Obama will probably keep all his promises "for better or worse". I must admit I am surprised by the speed with which he has acted on this one. It's like he's rushing to get through as much as he can while everyone is still in a trance!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the Guantanamo Bay thing was a disaster.. it was torture, detention without trial, attempting to circumvent international law etc all in one go. I think that Rumsfeld and his mates have a lot to answer for with that one. It would have been so much better to have allowed the usual processes of law to take place- then the U.S. could have shown the world what civilisation really looks like.
ReplyDeleteI think it is better not to be born than be born unwanted and unloved. So these Guantanamo detainees are all guilty without charge. There are certainly some who have already been proven inocent. Torture has done huge damage to the US reputation and I think and hope Obama will go some way in restoring the US morality. Don't forget that the US once supported the evil Saddam Hussein and also the Taliban, no one was punnished for that. I think Obama will be a great President even though he is starting out with a massive handicap.
ReplyDeleteYes, I will agree on the Gitmo issue. But I still feel they are truly P.O.W. and should have military tribunal. Some of them may be innocent, but they were captured for a reason. I do not want to chance that a "presumed innocent" takes a life if released.
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