An announcement that the Bush administration defines human embryos as children has rekindled tensions between abortion-rights and anti-abortion advocates in Wisconsin.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Thursday that a proposed regulatory change would define \child"" as ""children from conception to age 19.""
The new federal regulation would extend health insurance coverage to unborn children by allowing low-income pregnant women to be covered by their state's Children's Health Insurance Program. CHIP provides health insurance for children from low-income families.
Representatives of anti-abortion organizations are praising the proposal. According to the Capital Times, Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, R-Waukesha, said he wants Wisconsin to be among the first states to adopt the new rule.
But Paige Shipman, of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, told the Capital Times the proposed change is ""inserting anti-choice politics"" by ""redefining 'child' to limit the rights of women to make their own reproductive decisions.""
Abortion-rights advocates also say they fear a federal court could rule for a fetus's legal rights above the rights of a pregnant woman.
