Updates

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule, which prohibited organizations who performed or promoted abortion from receiving US funding. Though President Obama signed an executive order upon taking office in January 2009 that officially rescinded the Global Gag Rule, this amendment will prevent future administrations from reinstating it. The amendment was sponsored by Sen. Lautenberg and co-sponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and was passed with a vote of 17–11.