The Struggle for Reproductive Justice

After eight years of relentless attacks on reproductive rights, it is impossible to overstate the relief with which advocates welcomed the election of Barack Obama. His administration acted decisively to reverse some of the most damaging reproductive policies of the Bush era.

Because the national press and health care reformers were initially silent about whether the new health care program would cover abortions, prolife and Christian Right groups had a blank slate on which to write their warnings that people's tax money would pay for abortions. Their campaign against the plan because it would (hopefully) cover abortions was as vigorous as the campaign against "death panels" promoting euthanasia of the elderly.