Abortion Debates

The abortion wars are heating up again. Anti-abortion groups strongly opposed President Obama's health-care overhaul, insisting that the plan's insurance coverage provisions opened the door to public subsidies for abortions. They remain opposed even after Obama issued an executive order that regulations be issued barring use of federal funds for abortion services except in limited circumstances. For their part, abortion-rights groups say the restrictions leave reproductive freedoms worse off than before. Anti-abortion groups are now pressing state legislatures to similarly bar coverage for abortion under the insurance exchanges to be established under the new health-care law. In addition, they are pushing new restrictions on abortion procedures, including a requirement that a woman be shown an ultrasound image of her fetus before the procedure. Abortion-rights advocates say the proposals amount to political interference with women's constitutionally protected right to make their own medical decisions.