THE LIMITS OF "LIFE" :

U.S. Military Must Pay for Abortion of Fetus With Rare Disease (The Associated Press, 6/01/02)

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. military to pay for the abortion of a fetus that was developing without a brain.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner ruled Thursday that the government could not refuse to pay for the abortion on moral grounds. But the decision applies only to fetuses with anencephaly, a condition in which the baby has no brain and survives for only a few days.

[M]aureen M. Britell, whose husband was in the military when she had an abortion at New England Medical Center in 1994...was covered by the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Service, known as CHAMPUS. A 1970s law bans federal funding of most abortions, and CHAMPUS does not pay for abortions unless the mother's life is in danger.

Though generally opposed to using tax dollars for abortions, this seems like a reasonable ruling. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 1, 2002 8:39 AM