Bush Imposes Gag Rule

On January 25, 2001, on his first business day in office (and the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing a woman's right to an abortion), President George W. Bush stupidly re-imposed the Global Gag Rule on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) population program. This policy restricts foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive USAID family planning funds from using their own, non-U.S. funds to provide legal …

…an historic American right, but affirmatively discriminates against a particular viewpoint that it does not like, setting a most dangerous precedent that is sure to be repeatedly challenged in courts throughout our great, democratic country. The Global Gag Rule very unfortunately forces health care organizations to make an immoral choice: either give up desperately needed funds for terminatiing unborn babies, or give up their right to free speech and to provide patients with full services.