Now that former President George W. Bush has retired to his new home in Dallas, Congress and the Obama administration will start taking steps to undo some of the former president’s more dangerous policies. Ensuring the government adequately protects reproductive rights should be high on the list.

Speaking at a recent event sponsored by the American Association of University Women, Rep. Jan Schakowsky -- recently named co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Women’s Issues -- outlined some of the caucus’ top priorities. Included was a promise to strike down the Global Gag Rule, which Bush re-imposed on his first day in office eight long years ago. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, the U.S. endangers thousands of women worldwide every day that it restricts foreign, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive USAID family planning funds from using their own resources to provide legal abortion services or accurate medical counseling. It’s a practice that must end.

Reversing a last minute regulation known as the Provider Conscience Rule is another key priority. In December, the outgoing administration finalized a regulation allowing medical staff to refuse to participate in any practice they object to on moral grounds, including abortion but possibly birth control and other health care as well. Schakowsky made the apt comparison when she said the rule, which took effect yesterday, was equivalent to “hiring a fire fighter that won’t go into a burning building.” Women’s health and human rights expert Jodi Jacobson has more:

When individuals or groups are denied access, the consequences are immediate and the harms directly proportional to the level of economic and social disparity that limits access by individuals to the care they want and need. Those harms are found abundantly in high rates of unintended pregnancies due to lack of access to contraception among economically and socially disadvantaged teens, and high rates of HIV infection among women, especially African-American women in the United States and women generally in countries throughout Africa and Asia.

Thankfully, Democrats are working furiously to fight back. Six state attorneys general, including our own Lisa Madigan, filed suit last week to turn back the rule and both Congressional leaders and Obama are figuring out the best approach to take.