January 22, 1973
Roe v. Wade. United States Supreme Court holds that every woman has the constitutional right to choose to continue or abort a pregnancy. [1]
August 16, 1984
The U.S. delegation at the International Conference on Population in Mexico City decides that population growth is not necessarily an impediment to poverty reduction in Third World nations and announces its revoking of all foreign aid to non-governmental organizations that provide or inform about abortion choices for women. [2] This policy later becomes known as the Global Gag Rule. Reproductive health clinics throughout the Third World are forced to severely cut staff or close down, even clinics that merely provide information about abortion.
January 22, 1993
The 20th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and President Bill Clinton's first business day in the White House. Clinton repeals the Global Gag policy on the grounds that it unnecessarily removes funding from organizations that would otherwise provide good reproductive health services. [3]
January 22, 2001
The 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and President George W. Bush's first business day in the White House. Bush reinstates the Global Gag policy. [4] Several development projects focused on reproductive health are seriously delayed because their partners advocated abortion legalization under certain circumstances in several nations.
January 22, 2004
The 31st anniversary of Roe V. Wade. During his call to thank the participants of March for Life, Bush states: "The right to life does not come from government, it comes from the Creator of life." [5]
January 22, 2005
I can't wait. Bring it.
[1] Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
[2] Policy Statement of the United States of America
[3] AID Family Planning Grants/Mexico City Policy Memorandum
[4] Restoration of the Mexico City Policy Memorandum
[5] March for Life Press Release
// posted by meera at
09:04 PM
