Press coverage of the numerous changes that Barack Obama has made since taking office has overlooked one change that makes a welcome and swift departure from the policies of the previous administration: the revocation of the so-called “global gag rule.”

The rule made it impossible for federal funding to go to international groups that provide abortions or even provide abortion information to the women they serve. It was first passed by President Regan in 1984, overruled by President Clinton in 1993, and put back in place by the second President Bush as one of his first acts as president in 2001.