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Yesterday, twelve Democratic Congressional representatives, led by Bart Stupak, vowed to vote down President Obama’s health care reform bill. At issue is language in the bill that they perceive allows for the use of public funding of abortions. In fact, the bill includes stipulations that require insurers to separate public and private premiums, using only private funds to pay for abortions. However, Stupak takes his objections further, opposing even indirect funding for abortions, including for those receiving government subsidies. This includes 85% of all those who would be covered under a health insurance exchange. Stupak’s cause is the most publicized in a series of ongoing battles surrounding abortion that reach from Congress and the White House to state legislatures. In Utah, a bill criminalizing illegal abortions and providing loopholes that could also punish women who miscarry passed the state’s legislature, but was then vetoed by Governor Herbert. The legislature is currently re-working the bill to exclude the provision on miscarriage after much debate and controversy. Meanwhile, in Nebraska lawmakers are attempting to ban all late-term abortions (except where the mother’s life is threatened) on the basis that they cause pain to the unborn fetus. This claim of fetal pain is not supported by the medical community—the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states that it knows of “no legitimate evidence that shows a fetus can experience pain.”

GUEST: Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, Staff Attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

For more information, visit www.aclu.org.