Antiabortion Activists Refocusing Strategies After Election Results Washington Post Says Democratic-Controlled Congress Might Force Bush To Reconsider

Antiabortion activists are refocusing their strategies to "reduce access to abortion" after a "string of Election Day victories" for abortion-rights supporters, the Los Angeles Times reports (Simon, Los Angeles Times, 11/9). South Dakota voters on Tuesday rejected by a 55% to 45% margin a law (HB 1215) that would have banned all abortions in the state except to save a pregnant woman's life. Oregon voters defeated a measure that would have required physicians to notify a parent or guardian at least 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor between ages 15 and 17. In California, Proposition 85, a statewide ballot measure that would have required doctors to notify parents or guardians before performing an abortion on a minor, lost by a 54% to 46% margin (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/8). Antiabortion activists are "[d]rawing motivation from their defeats" and are working on new strategies to persuade more women not to undergo abortions and to reduce access to the procedure, the Times reports. "We're going back to the drawing board to see where we can make inroads," Troy Newman -- president of Operation Rescue West, which opposes abortion rights -- said. According to the Times, the goals of antiabortion groups include expanding and rewriting "informed consent" laws; expanding requirements for "emotional" counseling, which includes telling women seeking abortions that the fetus can feel pain and that abortions end the life of a "unique human being"; requiring women to see a three-dimensional ultrasound of the fetus; and increasing regulation of clinics that provide abortion services (Los Angeles Times, 11/9). Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said, "Voters in every corner of the country made it clear they are tired of divisive attacks on a woman's right to choose." According to Sarah Stoesz, president of Planned Parenthood Minnesota-North Dakota-South Dakota, the election results "sen[d] a very strong message to the rest of the country," adding, "This was really a rebellion in the heart of red-state, pro-life America" (AP/Baltimore Sun, 11/9).

Embryonic Stem Cell Research
With the Democratic Party on the "verge of capturing the Senate" on Wednesday to "go along with the House majority they won on Tuesday, the resulting new "political dynamic" of Congress might "force" President Bush to reconsider his position on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, the Washington Post reports (Weisman/Babington, Washington Post, 11/9). Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research in the U.S. is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by President Bush on that date. Bush in July vetoed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (HR 810), which would have expanded stem cell lines that are eligible for federal funding and allowed funding for research using stem cells derived from embryos originally created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by patients (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/26). Congress at the time lacked the two-thirds majority to override Bush's veto, and the House still seems to be "short of a two-thirds majority favoring more embryonic stem cell research," according to the Post. In Missouri, voters on Tuesday approved a measure that would amend the state constitution to ensure that stem cell research permitted under federal law is protected in the state and would prohibit human cloning. The proposal, titled the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, would allow stem cell research that involves somatic cell nuclear transfer, which some consider a type of human cloning (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/8).

APM's "Marketplace" on Wednesday reported on the passage of Missouri's stem cell ballot measure. The segment includes comments from Joseph Haslag, economist at the University of Missouri-Columbia; William Neaves, director of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research; and Gail Pressberg, co-author of the book "The Promise and Politics of Stem Cell Research" (Palmer, "Marketplace," APM, 11/8). A transcript and audio of the segment are available online.

NPR's "All Things Considered" on Wednesday examined the changing landscape of abortion rights in the U.S. The segment includes comments from Keenan; Daniel McConchie, vice president of Americans United for Life; and Leslee Unruh, campaign manager for the South Dakota antiabortion group VoteYesForLife.com (Rovner, "All Things Considered," NPR, 11/8). Audio of the segment is available online.

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