Obama could reverse abortion rule this week

CNN is reporting that President-elect Barack Obama could pick the 36th anniversary on Thursday of the Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion to reverse a Bush administration policy that bans the United States from funding international family planning groups that provide information, counseling, or referrals about abortion.

The "Mexico City policy," commonly referred to by critics as "the global gag rule," was devised by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 at a population conference in Mexico City, CNN says.

President Bill Clinton lifted the ban in January 1993 as one of his first acts as president, but President Bush reinstated it in his first executive order on the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.