"This is a transparent ploy to undermine birth control and abortion rights by granting 'personhood' to embryos and fetuses," said NOW President-elect Kim Gandy, responding to reports of a Bush Administration policy to allow states to define a fetus as a person under the Children's Health Insurance Program, purportedly to cover prenatal and delivery services.

"If George W. wanted to allow states to cover pregnant women under this program, he'd simply grant a waiver to every state that requested one -- something Bill Clinton had already started doing in January. Better yet, let's require this coverage," said Gandy.

"NOW challenges the White House and Bush supporters in Congress to mandate health coverage of low-income pregnant women. But this seems unlikely, since they already advocate cutting funds for such programs," Gandy continued. "All of these machinations have a political goal that is important to George W. Bush -- limiting birth control and abortion." Gandy noted that President Bush's budget sought to cut the Maternal and Child Health Block Grants that provide health care to women before, during and after pregnancy, and to freeze the Healthy Start program, which has been shown to reduce infant mortality and morbidity.

"Ultraconservatives haven't had enough success in Congress with the fetal-rights strategy for restricting abortion, so the White House has taken up their cause," Gandy explained. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the so-called Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which also sought to grant legal personhood to a fetus -- refusing amendments that would protect pregnant women without a personhood requirement. The Senate has not yet taken up that bill.

"Endowing a fetus with more rights than a pregnant woman is more than a back door attempt to restrict abortion rights," Gandy said. "It's also a slap in the face to women everywhere."

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