On the 28th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, President Bush approved an order to block U.S. funds that go to international family-planning groups that offer abortions and abortion counseling.
It reverses the Clinton administration’s position on unrestricted family-planning aid to international groups that support abortion either through performing the surgery, counseling on abortion as a family-planning option or lobbying foreign governments on abortion policy.
By doing this, Bush has reinstated a policy that former president Reagan instituted during his presidency.
This was the new president’s first major policy action as well as his first major mistake. Abortion rights is one of the most controversial issues in American culture today. By immediately taking controversial action on this issue, he will in no way help to unite the nation as he promised he would.
Although Bush is against abortion rights, he promised in his campaign that he would examine the issue closely and carefully in the best interest of all Americans. It is impossible to effectively examine an issue in only a few short days and without consulting Congress.
The president is less than a week into his term and he already has broken a promise.
Bush was the winner of an incredibly close and debatable election, and abortion is an issue that divides the country.
The president only seems to care about pleasing conservatives who questioned his “compassionate” approach.
This is a sensitive issue that requires close examination. If Bush is already taking this kind of action, what’s next?
During his campaign, the president proclaimed himself to be the outsider who would shake up the federal government.
That may have sounded good then, but in only his first days as President Bush, is looking less like an outsider and more like a typical Washington politician.