Another front in the abortion war

by Tim Grieve

Just when we were ready to take a breather from the when-life-begins debate, along comes this: Hot on the heels of South Dakota's new abortion ban, the Indiana Legislature is considering a measure that would require doctors to tell women considering abortion that life begins at conception and that a fetus might feel pain during the procedure.

The Indianapolis Star says that the state's General Assembly included the language in a bill setting forth the written information doctors must provide their patients. The Senate removed the language, but now there's a push to get it back in through the conference committee process.

Planned Parenthood's Michael McKillip tells the Star that "to suggest to a woman, where no science is evident, that it is possible to feel pain before 20 weeks is nothing short of harassment." Republican state Sen. Mike Delph says women should be given the warning anyway because abortion is "the human-rights issue of our day."