Should Obama have Reversed U.S. Abortion Policy?

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In one of his first official acts as President of the United States, President Barack Obama rescinded the "Mexico City Policy." This policy prohibits taxpayer funds from going to foreign non-governmental organizations that use other funds to promote and perform abortions. Under the Mexico City Policy, funding for family planning is not reduced by one penny but recipient agencies must decide whether or not to engage in abortion promotion or provision. A policy against promoting abortion is only "anti-family planning" if one assumes that abortion itself is a method of "family planning."

Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council, had this to say:

"Yesterday, President Obama issued executive orders banning the torture of terrorists but today signed an order that exports the torture of unborn children around the world. At a debate last year at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, then-candidate Barack Obama vowed to find 'common ground' on the issue of abortion and that he, as President, would work to 'reduce the number of abortions.' His action today flies in the face of that vow and probably sets a record as the most quickly broken campaign promise ever leaving the question, how many more broken promises to families lie ahead?
"Both sides of the abortion debate, from Planned Parenthood to Family Research Council, agree on a simple economic point: when you subsidize abortion, abortions will increase. Thanks to his actions today, U.S. taxpayers will be forced to take part in exporting a culture of death. We have a responsibility to respect the policies and traditions of the other countries, which have laws recognizing the right to life of the unborn, and it is an insult to fund organizations that are intent on overturning those laws by promoting an elite ideology of abortion on demand.

"One of President Obama's first acts is to rescind this vital government policy and reward pro-abortion groups. This should serve as a bitter pill for those who campaigned for him, all the while proclaiming their belief in the cause of life and family."