Health Reform's New Frontline: Abortion

We've had the birthers, the deathers, and now here come the right-to-lifers to cast their two cents on the health reform debate, reports the Wall Street Journal. Democrats are bracing for protests from anti-abortion advocates, who are preparing a major push against what they call taxpayer subsidies for pregnancy termination. Most plans on the table include subsidies for poorer Americans to buy private insurance, which often covers abortion. "Lawmakers will know this is a bill to set up a big federal abortion program," a National Right to Life Committee member tells the Journal.

Anxious Democrats have been looking for a compromise. One proposed amendment would allow for abortion coverage but would stipulate that the cost be met by the fraction of the premium paid by individuals, not the state. It also would require one plan with abortion coverage and one without throughout the country. That's enough for some pro-life Democrats, but one Republican House member said it just shows "how far Democrats are willing to go to force taxpayers to fund abortion." (More abortion stories.)