Abortion-rights issues still simmer

OB/GYN News, May 15, 2006 by Mary Ellen Schneider

Some members of Congress are responding to state efforts to restrict abortion with a federal proposal to codify a woman's ability to seek an abortion. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) recently introduced legislation (H.R. 5151/S. 2593) that would prohibit any government from interfering with a woman's ability to terminate a pregnancy before fetal viability or after viability in cases where it is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman.

In the meantime, a survey released by a coalition of antiabortion groups found that 54% of those surveyed agreed with one of three traditionally antiabortion statements--that abortion should be prohibited in all circumstances, abortion should be legal only to save the life of the mother, or abortion should be legal only in cases of rape or incest or to save the mother's life. About 41% agreed with various statements saying that abortion should be legal for any reason, and 6% didn't know or refused to answer. The national telephone survey of 1,000 adults was conducted in mid-April.