no abs came standard on the CNG civic..(the hybrid/natural gas) or w/e you wanna call it...but the gasoline powered 96-98 civic came with power brakes.....so to answear your question NO the ex didnt come with ABS standard....it was an option....

http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/pdfs/civic.pdf


look below the picture on the right...this will open in acrobat reader i believe