With the advent of a new conservative administration, anti-abortion activists hope to find a sympathetic leader in President George W. Bush, while pro-choice advocates fear what the future will bring.As one of his first acts as president, Bush signed an executive order banning international family-planning organizations outside the United States from receiving federal U.S. funds if they promote or perform abortion.Kim Gordon, executive director of the Iowa Right to Life organization, said Bush and some of the nominated and confirmed Cabinet members are looking to reduce abortion. However, she said, reducing the number of abortions in the United States is a uniform goal.”I can’t find anyone on any side of the aisle who wouldn’t want to do that,” Gordon said. “No one is going to say they want to see more abortions performed.”However, federal restrictions on abortion ultimately may lead to more dangerous abortions instead of decreasing the number of abortions, pro-choice supporters said.”Clearly, it creates a culture of fear among those best equipped — meaning physicians and the women themselves — to protect health-care needs of women around the world,” said Sandra Suarez, staff attorney for Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa.”What you’re going to see, and what terrifies me, both personally and professionally, is that we could very well see an environment that our mothers and our aunts and our grandmothers told us about — more women dying from back-ally people performing these kinds of procedures,” Suarez said.U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson already has said he will review for safety the abortion-inducing drug RU-486, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last September.Gordon said the review is necessary to assess the risks and potential side effects of the drug.”One in 100 women who take [RU-486] are going to bleed so severely they will die,” she said. “If you’re a woman and you’re possibly going to get RU-486, wouldn’t you want to know the risks? It’s so dangerous that no woman should be taking it or putting herself at risk.”Gordon said the FDA approved the drug under political pressure, but Suarez said second-guessing the FDA’s approval is “just another attack against pro-choice in general and on women’s reproductive health-care rights.””The thing about RU-486 is that it has been available in Europe for over a decade,” she said. “There was a long history before it actually became approved in the United States. Now, we have the FDA, who is held in high esteem, and all of a sudden, they want to talk about attacking the FDA’s standards.”Abby Hansen, president of the ISU Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, said it is “ridiculous” for the government to block the FDA-approved drug.”I understand it’s a moral issue, and [Bush] has to uphold his morals, but what it really comes down to is that we need to make it safe for women who are going to have abortions,” she said. “Otherwise, we are going to encounter more deaths.”Suarez said First Lady Laura Bush, who said she does not think Roe v. Wade should be overturned, has the right idea — abortion is a personal choice.”Why isn’t it for the rest of the women in the world who are in need?” Suarez asked.Abortion continues to divide the nation, and local political experts said it is difficult for elected officials to balance moral obligations and public opinion.”An elected official has to walk a fine line between leading and doing the will of the people,” said Sara Leonard, communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party. “I hope [Bush] makes a good decision.”However, Chad Barth, communications director for the Republican Party of Iowa, said Bush’s stances and morals helped him prevail in the Nov. 7 presidential election.”President Bush campaigned on the ideas that he believed in, and that is why he is in the office of president now,” Barth said. “He will lead the way that he sees fit and that he believes is right for the nation.”Hansen, junior in liberal studies, said federal-issued restrictions on abortions can deter women in need from seeking help.”Quite frankly, I’m really nervous, because given the power that [the government] has, they can do anything,” she said.Gordon said many people who support the women’s right to choose do not know all the facts.”If they knew all the facts of how girls suffer and how many babies are killed — you tell them all those facts and ask them if they support abortion, and you’ll get an entirely different response,” she said.