Hi Gran,
actually, I would have no problem at all with public healthcare funds being used to pay for abortions. It's a legitimate health issue for women, and there's no reason to exclude it from being provided. Anybody who thinks they have the right to deny legitimate healthcare to a woman is an idot and a bully. The scare tactics, the notion that women use abortion as a first line of birth control are nonsense. The cases of that happening are rare and probably involve someone who is mentally ill or a drug addict. Anything can be abused, but the possibility of abuse is no reason to eliminate it for all. By and large, nobody wants an abortion. Nobody sees it as a "good" thing to do, something to look forward to. But it's a viable and legitimate option that ought to be made available to someone making a tough decision. I'd rather have it done safely with good medical facilities and well trained medical personnel, then see it go underground where it will not be safe.
On that note, there are so many highly effective forms of preventative birth control that there is really very little reason for abortions to be necessary, if the preventative methods are made easily available and people are educated on their use, and people are not made to feel shame or embarrasment if they seek them out. Pushing for this would drastically reduce the number of abortions performed, and ought to be a front-line issue for anyone concerned with abortions and women's reproductive health.
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