# What was W's first act in office? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-ws-first-act-in-office/482723 "2009-01-23T22:31:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-ws-first-act-in-office/482723/1 "2009-01-23T22:31:28Z")
If I remember correctly, his first, or one of his first acts was to prohibit the funding of international NGOs, etc. that do AIDS education and family planning, if they even mentioned condom use, let alone distributed them. I may have this pretty much screwed up, but I remember being irate at the stupidity of the edict. People who needed family planning information and who needed disease prevention information were kept ignorant of one of the best proven effective means of doing both. Am I correct, or do I have it really fouled up? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-ws-first-act-in-office/482723/2 "2009-01-23T23:05:19Z")
Between his Inauguration and March, Bush issued 8 executive orders. The first two, EO 13198 and 13199, on January 29th, set up the Office of Faith Based Initiatives and created centers in various existing departments to deal with faith based initiatives. EO 13200, on Feb 17th, extended the term of the Information Technology Advisory Committee, which was expiring. The next three executive orders, all of which were also issued on Feb. 17th, weakenedthe power of unions EO 13201 ordered government contractors to post notices to their employees informing them of their rights in regard to union membership and use of union dues (that they can’t be forced to pay union dues that will go to support political candidates, for instance). EO 13202 prohibited the government from forcing contractors to enter project labor agreements with unions. This reversed a Clinton executive order that encourged federal agencies to enter into project labor agreements. EO 13203 revoked a prior executive order that mandated the establishment of labor-management contracts and disbanded the National Partnership Council. EO 13204, also on Feb. 17th, revoked an executive order forcing contractors to offer a right of first refusal to employees of the prior contractor. Finally, EO 13205, on March 9th, established an emergency board to deal with a labor dispute between Northwest Airlines and their mechanics. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-ws-first-act-in-office/482723/3 "2009-01-23T23:10:37Z")
Ah, I’ve found it…it wasn’t an executive order…it was a presidential proclamation, on January 22, 2001, reinstating the “Mexico City Policy” which said that international aid groups that received federal funding couldn’t perform abortions or promote abortions as a method of family planning. It’s not condom use, but could this be what you were thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-ws-first-act-in-office/482723/4 "2009-01-23T23:22:54Z")
> [@CC](#): > > If I remember correctly, his first, or one of his first acts was to prohibit the funding of international NGOs, etc. that do AIDS education and family planning, if they even mentioned condom use, let alone distributed them. I may have this pretty much screwed up, but I remember being irate at the stupidity of the edict. People who needed family planning information and who needed disease prevention information were kept ignorant of one of the best proven effective means of doing both. Am I correct, or do I have it really fouled up? No, abortions. No group could get federal funding if they provided, or counseled in favor of abortions. They could talk about birth control all they wanted. Obama is going to overturn this whole prohibition anyday.. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-ws-first-act-in-office/482723/5 "2009-01-23T23:24:15Z")
He ordered the janitorial staff to completely wipe down the oval office desk with particular attention to the underside surfaces. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-ws-first-act-in-office/482723/6 "2009-01-23T23:36:41Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > No, abortions. No group could get federal funding if they provided, or counseled in favor of abortions. They could talk about birth control all they wanted. > > Obama is going to overturn this whole prohibition anyday.. [Today, in fact:](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_abortion_ban_17) > [@](#): > > President Barack Obama on Friday quietly ended the Bush administration’s ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option. Liberal groups welcomed the decision, while abortion rights foes criticized the president. > > Known as the “Mexico City policy,” the ban has been reinstated and then reversed by Republican and Democratic presidents since Ronald Reagan established it in 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.