Ungagged

BBC: Obama lifts ban on abortion funds

For the eight years of the Bush presidency, the global gag rule was in place. No federal funding was given to foreign family planning agencies distributing information about abortion.

This hindered the ability of such agencies to work in third world countries that need sex ed and family planning information the most: countries where people think HIV is caused by demons, countries where access to contraception is limited or nonexistent, countries where children starve to death as a matter of course.

Thus the president known for 'family values' kept people ignorant about the whole subject of family planning rather than risk them learning about one controversial part of it.

In his first week on the job, President Obama has overturned this detrimental ban, so has promised women more control over their health and poor countries more control over their populations. As Planned Parenthood wrote in a statement praising the move, "No longer will health care providers be forced to choose between receiving family planning funding and restricting the health care services they provide to women."

Thank you, Mr. President.