Boldness in Very Good Causes : Clinton moves smartly on gag rule, fetal-tissue research and RU486

It came down to this: Two of the most symbolic victories of anti-abortion groups in recent years were nullified Friday with the stroke of the pen--President Clinton’s pen, to be precise.

Years of marches, nasty confrontations outside abortion clinics, anguished public debate, lobbying, fund raising and even majority votes in Congress couldn’t overturn the gag rule on abortion counseling at federally funded clinics and the moratorium on fetal tissue research, both imposed during the Reagan and Bush administrations.

The debate over abortion will surely continue--but Clinton has undone what never should have been done in the first place.

Clinton promised during his campaign to overturn these policies, and three days into his Administration he kept his word.

He also ordered a review of the ban on the private importation of RU486, the French abortion pill, and he wisely ended two lower-profile but no less offensive policies by lifting the ban on performing abortions at military hospitals and on federal financing for international family planning programs.

All of these policies were unwarranted, inhumane and offensive to a broad spectrum of Americans, including many Republicans.

As a result, the Bush Administration’s insistence on enforcing these directives served to further politicize debate over abortion and to jeopardize many people suffering from serious medical conditions.

Fetal tissue transplant research, for example, has shown great promise in treating Parkinson’s disease, which affects millions. But anti-abortion extremists believed that permitting such research, which uses tissue from aborted fetuses, constituted government encouragement of abortion. As this research came to a halt, countless Americans with Parkinson’s, spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy and other disorders lost what might have been their best chance for help.

Import restrictions on RU486 worked a similar cruelty: The drug may help reduce some breast cancers that were unresponsive to other treatment. The restrictions also affected women who wanted what may prove to be a safe alternative to surgical abortion.

Clearly, Clinton’s orders will not produce agreement among Americans on the emotional issue of abortion. Nor will his orders alone provide access to safe and legal abortions for women who choose not to continue a pregnancy. But his actions do send an unmistakable signal that this President will not be held hostage to pressure groups when most Americans agree that women have a right to abortions.

Now Clinton and Congress must follow up that welcome signal with more action: federal funds for fetal tissue transplant research, funds for family planning at home and overseas and a prompt licensing review for RU486.