well, so far...I can say without hesitation...he is the best President of my lifetime!

A+ for hitting the ground running on Day 1. He must have a blackberry , I think he was working during the inauguration!

I had a kind of "strange" feeling run through me when I came to the realization that Obama is the first President during my lifetime that is younger than me......

...not to mention, the first President who has been one of my Facebook friends!

The first president I ever voted for who didn't lose... well, you know what I mean. I've NEVER, EVER voted for the winner in a presidential election. I was kinda scared to cast my vote this time!

Yesterday, on the anniversary of Roe v Wade, abortion supporters expected Obama to issue an executive order reversing the Mexico City policy imposed by George Bush prohibiting American aid dollars for international abortions. Obama demurred, perhaps wishing to avoid the media scrutiny that would attend such a move on Roe’s anniversary. Instead, Obama will quietly sign the new EO today, away from the media spotlight:


This isn’t exactly a Profile in Courage. Actions get taken on Friday afternoons when people want the media to ignore it. By noon, the broadcast networks have their evening news well planned, and Americans as a rule go out to socialize. It’s not called the graveyard of news cycles for nothing.

It seems significant that the first such Friday afternoon news cycle of the Obama administration gets used for authorizing American tax dollars for abortions abroad. We’re spending a trillion dollars that we don’t have now for an economic stimulus that will likely make the economy worse as we pull capital out of the markets. With the federal budget deficit exploding to three times its previous size, thanks to the bailout, why should Americans pay for abortions overseas?

At least the shame Obama appears to show in signing this dreadful act can give pro-life activists a little hope. Perhaps if Obama realizes that he has to bury this in a Friday-afternoon news cycle, the Freedom of Choice Act won’t get much attention later in this Congressional session.

Aww, c'mon Dave! You've had all of a Dubya presidency that's allowable by law. Give the new guy a chance to make as many f#%* ups! Oh, wait .... I think Dubya's in the Guinness Book of World Records for that!

Thanks for the info Wiz. I agree with ya. & It's a waste of taxpayers money not to mention the babies that are tragically getting killed. Stuff like this was why I didn't vote for him. Good luck Obama, I know it's not easy being Prez...

This does not mandate that we pay for one single abortion. It does free our funds to go to medical clinics in deep rural areas in Africa and other continents where they provide all the medical and surgical care available to the people. Under Bush, we withheld funds for all medical care if they performed abortions--not that we paid for them, just that they occurred in the same building. Didn't matter what the reason was--if it saved the mother's life or whatever. A lot of grown, productive, innocent people died because of our arrogance in thinking we should tell other people how to run their lives.

That said, I fervently hope that we do help women in other parts of the world gain control over their own bodies and lives.

C'mon man, I am planning to go out and kill some babies this afternoon. I been working on my baby killing dance ever since Obama got elected and this is the first week end in years I get to go out and enjoy a good old fashion American Baby Killing in person instead of on the news in places like Iraq and stuff! Don't rain on my parade! (where the hell is that baby killing knife anyway? I know it is around here somewhere)

Well said, Shelley. Thanks for being the voice of reason, and explanation! I love how things can get so twisted around... rather than see that we hare HELPING others outside the US, some would rather believe that we are promoting AND paying for abortions! Amazing, isn't it?

Huh, and I just thought it was a political ping pong ball created by Jerry Falwell and implemented by Ronald Reagen as a concession to the Moral Majority for their electoral support way back in 1980 to demonstrate that we, the True Americans, represent the last great bastion of true Chrisitian Morality on the planet Earth and to demonstrate that morality trumps health issues and family planning every time (no condems for you!). Boy do I feel silly!

Yes, well said Shelley. And it will mean an end to coat hanger abortions, desperate people do desperate things.

Ok, it does not mandate it. But... It does away with the requirement so now a group can receive tax money for performing or promoting abortions.


Reversing this policy seems to be in direct contradiction to his stance on supporting policies to reduce abortions - which as a matter of fact DID go down under the Bush administration.

The Bush administration's gag rules and funding limits seemed to be, for the most part, blankets. Like Shelly said, funding was cut off from everything if even in the same facility that performed abortions. The same held true for stem cell research. On NPR a researcher said that they were held under the same funding restrictions if in a facility that also did embryonic stem cell research.

Cutting the funds to birth control clinics that may perform or reccommends abortions also limits their ability to offer other forms of birth control besides abortion. Likewise, the rules covering stem cell research limited viable studies that could someday lead to saving lives by repairing or replacing damaged organs/tissue, curing defects and diseases and promote a multitude of other life saving procedures. The embryonic cells used are, to my understanding, mostly taken from from frozen embryos (like from fertility clinics who "promote" childbirth) that are to de discarded (thrown out in the biohazard trash) otherwise. Why isn't anyone calling the fertility clinics "baby killers"?