Support for Abortion at an All-time Low

Tony Perkins: Washington Update: Just days ago, a new Pew Research Center poll showed support for abortion at an all-time low. The survey was one in a long line of polls that's reporting how unpopular the procedure has become under the most pro-abortion President in American history. Less than half of the public--47%--now think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, down from 54% last year. Over the past few months, abortion has taken a hit in almost every major demographic. And those numbers don't even take into account the whopping number of taxpayers who oppose funding it.

Across the nation, there's a pro-life undercurrent that seems to be carrying away everyone but Congress. Instead of adapting to this new anti-abortion climate, what does the congressional majority do? Try harder to fund it. As we speak, members of the House are working on a second abortion "compromise" in the health care bill- led by one of the most militant pro-choicers in the chamber. This week, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has been tasked with peeling support away from Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who announced last week that he had commitments from 40 Democrats to vote against any health care bill that doesn't include an outright ban on taxpayer-funded abortion. To win back some of his party, Waxman is putting together a second abortion "compromise" to follow up on the controversial Capps amendment.

As the Denver Post pointed out, Democrats will probably try to tighten the Capps language without including the blanket restrictions that Stupak wants. Although House liberals said the original amendment would only allow private funds to pay for abortion, even the New York Times called it a fraud. According to the paper, "In practice, the public and private money would all go into the same pot, and the source of money for any single procedure is largely a technicality." That's not good enough for Rep. Stupak and House Republicans. "The Capps Amendment says at least one plan [participating in a federal health insurance exchange] must provide abortion coverage and must have one that doesn't have it," he told U.S. News and World Report. "For the first time ever, federal policy is saying that abortion is a covered service." In other words, what happens on life in the next few days is crucial. If the negotiations fall apart, so too may any possibility for real reform.

---

Tags: abortion, FRC, Tony Perkins, Washington Update To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!