President Obama called for overturning a decade-old ban on publicly funded abortions in the District as part of his budget proposal Thursday, but did not overturn the national ban on federal funding, thus angering advocacy groups on both sides of the volatile issue.
Under his proposal, the District for the first time in more than a decade would be allowed to pay for abortions with the money it raises from its own taxpayers.
"This is just the most recent in a long line of actions by President Obama to placate the abortion industry actions that fail to match his words with regard to abortion policy," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life women's group.
Still, Mr. Obama's budget would leave in place the ban on using federal taxpayer money to pay for most abortions in the District or anywhere else in the nation a proposal pro-choice groups had hoped he would make in his first budget submission.
|