If you’re outside the womb, forget the support of the National Right to Life Committee. The group won’t lend its support to the S-CHIP bill.

Initially, they wouldn’t sign on to the legislation because it included coverage for pregnant women, not for fetuses specifically. (As if fetuses exist separately from pregnant women…) But with that provision stripped, NRLC still won’t support S-CHIP. Anti-abortion Democrats aren’t pleased, and sent a letter to the group telling them so. But the NRLC legislative director explained,

“There’s nothing there [in the SCHIP bill] for us to really grab onto.”

And,

“They had their chance to put something in there for the pro-life community, and they batted it down.”

Because there’s nothing for the “pro-life” community in a bill that protects children’s health. They clearly have zero interest in that.

–Ann Friedman

Ann Friedman is a columnist for New York magazine’s website and for the Columbia Journalism Review. She also makes pie charts for The Hairpin and Los Angeles magazine. Her work has appeared in ELLE, Esquire, Newsweek, The Observer, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. She lives in Los Angeles, but travels so often the best place to find her is online at annfriedman.com. Follow @annfriedman