US secretary of state Mr Colin Powell showed his liberal colours today when he said his personal views on the link between abortion and US support for family planning abroad differed from US policy.
One of Mr George W Bush's first decisions as president was to reimpose the total ban on US funding for foreign family planning organisations which support abortions or abortion counseling, even without using US government money for that aspect of their work.
In an interview with ABC's This Weekprogramme, Mr Powell said the decision was consistent with Mr Bush's campaign pledge and the policy of the republican party, of which he is a member.
But asked if he agreed with the new policy, he said "It is the policy. I have other views that are my personal views, but this is the policy of the government."
Unlike Mr Bush and many other republicans, Mr Powell has defended a woman's right to choose an abortion.
Critics of Mr Bush's decision say that, if the United States deprives the family planning organisations of funding for contraception, more women will end up having abortions and more will contract AIDS through unsafe sex.
Reuters