Daryl wrote:I'm either a bit thick, ill-informed, or have a very different world view; but it seems that the cornerstone of this debate is that Federal funds shouldn't be used for abortions.
Why not?
The US population is split into roughly 3 grouping on the issue.
Pro-life - Believe abortion is murder and should be prohibited under the majority of circumstances.
Pro-choice - Believe abortion is not murder and that the interests of the mother are paramount. Generally believe it should be legal except in the 3rd trimester for almost any reason.
In-between group - Believe abortion is close enough to murder to be a moral evil. However they believe the negatives of outright prohibition (aka back alley abortions) are too significant to outlaw abortion. However, because of their feeling that it is a moral evil, they support restrictions - one of which is we are not going to pay it.
Since neither pro-life nor pro-choice has a majority it is this group who decides whether or not a restriction will be put in place.