Democrats are taking on the abortion issue in the new Congress first by advocating prevention of unwanted pregnancies. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has reintroduced the Prevention First Act (S. 21), which would increase funding for the Title X national family planning program, expand Medicaid family planning services, and improve awareness of emergency contraception. The bill was also reintroduced in the House by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) as H.R. 463. The legislation had garnered 15 cosponsors in the Senate and 110 in the House at press time. Some conservative lawmakers have objected that the legislation supports proabortion counseling. In another proposal seeking to establish “common ground” on the abortion debate, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), an abortion opponent, has reintroduced the Pregnant Women Support Act (S. 270) to increase funding for the Women, Infants and Children Program, fund home visits by nurses to poor pregnant women and first-time mothers, and eliminate pregnancy as a preexisting condition that health insurers can exclude from coverage.
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