Obama to restore funds to health groups involved with abortion

President Barack Obama will issue an order restoring US funding for international family-planning groups involved with abortion, a media report said on Friday.

President Barack Obama will issue an order restoring US funding for international family-planning groups involved with abortion, a media report said on Friday.

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Under the original policy, established by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, US funds for contraception and other family-planning services could not go to organisations that advocate, counsel or offer abortion, the Wall Street Journal noted.

Opponents call it the "global gag rule". Bill Clinton, a Democrat, lifted that restriction when be became president in 1993, and then the Republican Bush changed it back in 2001.

President Obama plans to reverse it yet again, the Journal said, citing officials inside and outside the administration.

His timing was unclear, though several advocates expected it soon.