As three different pro-life, GOP-sponsored measures wind through the House, pro-choice Democrats are firing back, calling the bills "extremely dangerous."

The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), would take away tax benefits for employers who provide health care if the plans offer abortion coverage. The Protect Life Act, introduced by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), is aimed at those who would get insurance through state exchanges. It would block those consumers from purchasing abortion coverage.

Wednesday, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) called the measures "draconian" and "despicable," and warned that they would allow hospitals to deny life-saving abortions to dying women. Slaughter was joined by a number of pro-choice Democrats who voiced similar concerns.  (read more)

A House Judiciary subcommittee debated today what constitutes federal funding of abortion, and not surprisingly no consensus was reached.

At issue is specific language in HR-3, a bill before the House called the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. In part, it prohibits any tax credits or tax deductions for "amounts paid or incurred for an abortion or with respect to amounts paid or incurred for a health benefits plan ... that includes coverage of abortion."

Democrats such as New York Rep Jerry Nadler say this amounts to a "huge tax increase" for people who "spend their own money on health insurance that covers abortion."

But the subcommittee's Chairman Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., contends tax credits and deductions are part of federal funding and says, "This legislation is really about whether the role of America's government is to continue to fund a practice that takes the lives of over one million little Americans every year."

The House bill would also make the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer dollars from paying for abortions, permanent. Currently the amendment comes up for renewal each year. (read more)

They're also looking to strip funding for Planned Parenthood, as part of their general move for budget austerity. And we can expect more moves on this front in the weeks to come.

Part of this is Republicans doing the bidding of the people who put them back in the majority. Pro-life groups are a huge bloc of the Republican coalition and activists demand results in exchange for all the help they provide. Even if the GOP doesn't succeed in changing laws right away, it's good base politics.

And for all the talk about the 2010 elections being all about taxes, spending and the size of government, the issue of abortion played an unmistakable role on both sides.

Of the 22 pro-life House Democrats who voted for Obama's health-care law, despite concerns among pro-life groups about the federal subsidy loophole, only five returned to Congress this year. Some would have lost or retired anyway, but there's no doubt that the issue, and the pressure from pro-life groups, turned some races. (read more)

Gruesome allegations surrounding what some are calling an abortion mill in Philadelphia are reverberating across Capitol Hill and could shape a new national debate on abortion laws.

Doctor Kermit Gosnell is accused of using his Philadelphia clinic to murder one woman and abort at least seven late term babies.

"In case after case, Dr. Gosnell and his assistants induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the 6th, 7th and 8th month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of their necks with scissors, severing their spinal cords," said Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams.

A 261-page page grand jury indictment released this week against Gosnell and other clinic staffers lays out a myriad of failures and refusals to uphold basic public health guidelines. It also details a litany of regulatory failures by the Department of Health and other agencies.

The damning document also includes an observation about the unity of mind among members of the grand jury. "We ourselves cover a spectrum of personal beliefs about the morality of abortion... We find common ground in exposing what happened here, and in recommending measures to prevent anything like this from ever happening again." (read more)