Bush Reissues Order Stopping Taxpayer Funding of Intl Abortions
Associated Press, Reuters; March 23, 2001

Washington, DC -- President Bush plans to sidestep pro-abortion opponents
of his "Mexico City Policy" order that stops taxpayer funding of groups
that promote or perform abortions overseas, employing the policy as a
special memorandum that his advisers say is not subject to review.

Bush had already tried to adopt the ban as a rule - a move which
pro-abortion members of Congress had hoped to defeat with a vote. Now, it
appears they might not get the chance to sink the policy.

``The president has determined the most effective way to have his Mexico
City policy carried out is through the issuance of a presidential
memorandum, as opposed to rule-making at a government agency,'' White
House press secretary Ari Fleischer said in a telephone interview Friday.
``It gets the same thing done. The substance is exactly the same.'' An
executive memorandum also puts the ban in place more quickly, he said.

The restrictions on funding of international abortions are referred to as
the ``Mexico City policy'' because former President Reagan first announced
his plans to implement the strategy at a 1984 population conference there.

The Clinton administration quickly reversed the pro-life ban and, on Jan.
22, one of Bush's first acts as President was to put forth pro-life rules
to re-establish it. The planned memorandum will take the place of those
rules, said an administration official, speaking on condition of
anonymity.

Abortion advocates were irate over Bush's latest move. Pro-abortion Sen.
Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who led the effort to overturn Bush's first policy,
said she still hopes to find a loophole that will allow a challenge to the
memorandum. ``I will continue to do whatever I can to bring this before
Congress and reverse it.'' Jim Farrell, a spokesman for pro-abortion Sen.
Paul Wellstone (D-MN) also attacked the new order..

Seven pro-abortion Senators introduced legislation Tuesday to overturn
Bush's original action, using a 1996 law that permits the House and Senate
to pass legislation rejecting regulations. Republicans this month used the
same law to overturn Clinton administration rules aimed at protecting
workers against on-the-job injuries. But a presidential memorandum does
not appear to be open to a vote.

While abortion advocates expressed confidence they would have the votes in
the 50-50 Senate to repeal Bush's pro-life rule, pro-life members
predicted the effort would be thwarted in the House of Representatives.
"My own view is it has a very slim chance of ever being scheduled for the
floor," said pro-abortion House Republican Leader Dick Armey of Texas.

Five pro-abortion Republicans in the Senate -- Olympia Snowe of Maine, Jim
Jeffords of Vermont, Susan Collins of Maine, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania
and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island -- had agreed to co-sponsor the
pro-abortion resolution.

The White House released a letter from the U.S. Agency for International
Development's procurement director to the agency's acting general counsel,
spelling out Bush's plans to issue a memorandum and his decision to cancel
the initial order.

When Bush issued his initial order, he told USAID: ``It is my conviction
that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortions or advocate or
actively promote abortion either here or abroad.'' It was his first full
work day in the White House and the 28th anniversary of the Supreme
Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand and 40
million abortions since.

Current law bans the use of U.S. funds for any abortions in foreign
countries. Former Presidents Reagan and Bush extended the ban to groups
that use their own money to support abortion abroad because they receive
taxpayer funds and the money has become essentially a "reimbursement" for
performing and promoting abortions.