Obama Flips Abortion Policy

In 1984, former President Ronald Reagan put a policy in place known as the "Mexico City policy" that prohibited organizations that focused on family-planning to receive funds from the United States Agency for International Development if they offered abortions or abortion counseling. The policy was canceled by former President Bill Clinton, but then reinstated by President George W. Bush in 2001.

Obama commented on his decision to reverse the policy, stating that "It is time we end the politicization of this issue. 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."

Population Action International, a prominent international family planning group, praised Obama for his actions. "Family planning should not be a political issue," a spokesperson commented, " it's about basic health care and well-being for women and children."

Many Republican lawmakers were critical of the decision. A Republican Representative from the state of Georgia, Tom Price, was very unhappy with the action."Not even waiting a week, the new administration has acted to funnel U.S. tax dollars to abortion providers overseas," he says. "This is a stunning reversal of course from the president's campaign statements that he hoped to reduce the number of abortions. Just a day after thousands of Americans came to Washington to celebrate the principle of life, President Obama has made it clear that reducing abortions is not one of his priorities."

This was not the only Bush policy Obama acted to reverse. Immediately after taking office, Obama froze legal proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, and political analysts expect many more executive orders to come in the early days of Obama's presidency.