United States Senator

President Barack Obama has been sworn into office and now scores of pro-choice and abortion advocacy groups expect him to usher in a new era that undermines the rights of the unborn.

A report posted on the president’s transition website prior to yesterday’s inauguration called for major policy reversals regarding abortion funding limitations and recommended spending over $1.5 billion in federal taxpayer funds for the abortion industry. I am deeply concerned about this policy because it would be a huge step backward in the bipartisan progress made toward reducing the number of abortions. It is extremely disappointing and saddening to think that whatever change Obama may bring to Washington, he seems intent on reversing widely-popular policies that protect the lives of the unborn.

Two of the targeted funding limitations are the Hyde Amendment and the Mexico City Policy. The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, prohibits Medicaid and other federal funds from being used to pay for abortions. Medicaid funded over 300,000 abortions in the year prior to the Hyde Amendment’s enactment. The Mexico City Policy was announced by President Reagan in 1984 and required nongovernmental organizations to agree as a condition of their receipt of federal funds that they would neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations. The Mexico City Policy was rescinded by President Clinton and then reinstated by President Bush in 2001. Unfortunately, it appears this policy may be one of the first executive orders to be rescinded by the new Obama Administration.

Taxpayer funds should never be used to pay for abortions or actively promote abortion, either at home or abroad. To remove these two abortion funding bans and allow billions of taxpayer dollars to flow to organizations performing or promoting abortions will only serve to increase the amount of abortions each year, contrary to Obama’s campaign promise.

It is unfortunate that in the middle of an economic crisis and despite declining numbers of abortions the new administration could decide that one of the first orders of business is to direct record amounts of taxpayer money to this controversial and morally reprehensible industry.

I hope President Obama will resist these calls from the abortion industry and voice his support for these funding limitations and other critical life-promoting policies. I urge him to stay true to his word and be a president for all Americans, especially for innocent unborn children who have no voice.

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