Bill Clinton on Abortion President of the U.S., 1993-2001; Former Democratic Governor (AR)

Allow medical research that uses tissue from aborted fetuses

But scientists say the tissue is crucial for studies that benefit millions of patients. Critics say it also fit a pattern by the administration of diminishing the role of science and research in policymaking, including on climate change and tariffs.

Shortly after he took office, President Bill Clinton lifted a five-year ban on fetal tissue research imposed by Presidents Reagan and Bush. The fight flared again in 2015, after anti-abortion activists released doctored videos they secretly took, purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing plans to illegally sell aborted fetal tissue for research. House Republicans began an investigation of the fetal-tissue market; a number of states also investigated but found no wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood.

1993: Rescind Mexico City Policy: fund abortion abroad

1980s: pro-choice since Bible defines life starting at birth

Vaught was one of the leading abortion opponents among Little Rock clergy, but he said he shared some of Clinton’s ambivalence, having personally witnessed “some extremely difficult” pregnancies. He was not convinced that the Bible forbade abortion in all circumstances.

The minister went to his Bible to reconsider, after which Vaught determined that in the original Hebrew, “personhood” stemmed from words translated as “to breathe life into.” Thus, he averred, the Bible would define a person’s life as beginning at birth, with the first intake of breath. He reportedly told the governor that this did not mean that abortion was right, but he felt one could not say definitively, based on Scripture, that it was murder.

In all of his discussions about abortion thereafter, Clinton relied on his minister’s interpretation to bolster his pro-choice position.

1993: Undid draconian family planning policies

Hillary had pushed unequivocally for the orders, but Bill’s pollster argued that she was dead wrong on the timing of such a hot-button issue; by acting on abortion policy as one of the administration’s first pieces of business, the president and, worse, Hillary, would be perceived as governing from the left. But Hillary regarded the prohibitions in question as a powerful symbol of Reagan-era policies, and an opportunity to declare boldly that the Clinton era had begun. There was an additional appeal: it was fiscally neutral, monetarily cost-free, and not subject to a drawn-out legislative process.

Roe v. Wade was the right decision

Vetoed partial birth abortion ban for having no exceptions

President Clinton did, in fact, veto the bill banning partial birth abortion, demanding a vague exception for health that would have amounted to a ratification of almost all such abortions. His veto and the feminist demand for what is, in truth, infanticide underscore the casual brutality born of nihilism that is an ever more prominent feature of our culture.

Reversed global gag order on family planning

1993: allowed abortions on overseas U.S. military bases

Require Medicaid to pay for abortions for poor women

Status: During the Reagan and Bush Administrations, these services had been banned by the Hyde Amendment. Now, federal law requires Medicaid to pay for abortions for poor women in cases of rape or incest.

Revoke Mexico City Policy: family planning ok in foreign aid

Status: The Mexico City Policy which banned funding to worldwide family planning groups was revoked by Presidential Memorandum on January 22, 1993. Roughly $40 million--the first funding since 1985--was in the budget for FY94. The Administration announced that by the year 2000 comprehensive family planning services would be available to "every woman in the world who wants them."

Let women decide with their doctor and their God