New York Times Examines Abortion-Rights Opponents' Focus On Pregnant Women

The U.S. Supreme Court's recognition last month of an argument advanced by some abortion-rights opponents that the "interests of the pregnant woman and the fetus are ... the same" has "galvanized" antiabortion groups and has "se[t] the stage for an intensifying battle over new abortion restrictions in the states," the New York Times reports.

According to the Times, the "political struggle" over abortion often has been framed as a "starkly binary choice" between the "interest of the woman," advocated by abortion-rights supporters, versus the "interest of the fetus," advocated by abortion-rights opponents. However, some groups -- such as the Justice Foundation, National Right to Life Committee and Feminists for Life -- in the last decade have been building an argument that abortion is not in the "best interest" of the woman and that women are often "misled or ill-informed" about the risks related to the procedure.

According to the Times, many abortion-rights supporters and opponents viewed part of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in a ruling that upheld a federal law (S 3) banning so-called "partial-birth" abortion as an "invitation from a newly conservative court to pass tough new counseling and informed consent laws intended for women seeking abortions."

Abortion-rights supporters say that the focus on women by abortion-rights opponents "is motivated by ideology, not women's health," the Times reports. "Informed consent is really a misleading way to characterize it," Roger Evans, senior director of public policy litigation and law for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said, adding, "To me, what we'll see is an increasing attempt to push a state's ideology into a doctor-patient relationship to force doctors to communicate more and more of the state's viewpoint."

Wanda Franz, president of NRLC, said, "We think of ourselves as very pro-woman," adding, "We believe that when you help the woman, you help the baby" (Toner, New York Times, 5/22).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.