World / Barack Obama Vatican Blasts Obama Policy on Abortion Backers say plan promotes women's health, fights AIDS By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff Posted Jan 25, 2009 2:24 PM CST Copied In this picture made available by the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI, flanked by youths from Catholic groups, looks out over St. Peter's Square Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Osservatore Romano, HO) The Vatican today condemned President Obama's move to give federal funding to international groups that include abortions and abortion counseling with health care, the BBC reports. A Vatican official said the policy dealt a blow to those fighting "the slaughter of the innocents." Supporters of the move say it will promote women's health and help fight AIDS. (More Barack Obama stories.) Report an error