OOPS! MISSED THAT POINT ENTIRELY:

A "Uniquely American" Abortion Debate: The notion that tax dollars shouldn't pay for abortions is an international aberration, an example of American exceptionalism run amuck. (Dana Goldstein, July 28, 2009, American Prospect)

Right now in the United States, an individual's range of health care options -- on reproductive care or anything else -- is determined by her ability to pay, or to transport herself to the location where a certain medical procedure is legal and available. It's not that abortion is uncontroversial in other Western nations -- far from it. It's just that in Europe, government-funded health care is supported across the political spectrum, and is how almost every citizen accesses care. Even the most influential and affluent Europeans would be affected by government limits on abortion access. Unsurprisingly, then, few such limits exist.

Actually, limits wouldn't inconvenience them at all. They would however lead to more births to the poor and immigrants, which is why they fund abortion.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 28, 2009 12:50 PM