Obama Administration

Stem cells and the Obama administration

By |2020-01-03T13:19:38-05:00February 3rd, 2009|Blog|

Time Magazine’s cover story this week is on the promise of stem cell research, and the scientists who persisted developing this field despite obstacles mounted by President George W. Bush. In 2001, without formal rulemaking or even an Executive Order, President Bush announced a policy that effectively put an end to federally funded embryonic stem cell research.  He based his [...]

Global gag rule lifted

By |2020-01-03T13:19:33-05:00January 28th, 2009|Blog|

On Friday, January 23rd, President Obama lifted the “global gag rule” by executive order. The policy prohibited international organizations receiving federal funding to talk about abortion as an option. In the Winter 2008 issue of Censorship News, in our “issues to watch” with the upcoming Obama Administration, we wrote: The “global gag rule,” created by executive order, prohibits federally-funded international [...]

In an important step towards open goverment, Obama revives FOIA

By |2020-01-03T13:19:31-05:00January 27th, 2009|Blog|

On his first day in office, Barack Obama issued a memo reviving The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The memo states: “The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails.” This is a clear change from the policy of the Bush administration. As Slate puts it: Under Bush-Ashcroft, the presumption [...]

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