Obama Going in the Right Direction

I must say, I've been pleasantly surprised by President Obama's first days in office. He has issued an executive order to close down the torture camp at Guantanamo Bay within a year (good, but not perfect - it should close now), he has frozen all of Bush's "midnight regulations" ordered between Nov. 4 and Jan. 20. which would have done enormous damage, and today the FDA cleared the way for the first study on embryonic human stem cell therapy, and more importantly Obama lifted the global gag rule that stops US government funding from going to groups that discuss abortion abroad.

Ending the global gag rule is particularly important, because it denied so many women around the world access to the full array of family planning options. According to International Planned Parenthood, they've lost more than $100 million because of this rule.

This is a very encouraging sign that Obama will take a stand to protect the rights of women from the encroachments of conservatives, and I applaud him for that. Well done!