Religion & Law

Following up on Robby's post, from a few days ago, on the debate over the "abortion neutrality" of the new health-care law . . . this story, out of Michigan, caught my eye: 

[T]he new national health care law, combined with a bottomed-out Michigan economy, is changing the landscape for Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan, which serves 55,000 women every year.

An early sign of health care reform's impact is Planned Parenthood's decision to open a new Oakland County clinic within the next 18 months, adding to 15 locations, including Detroit, Warren and Livonia. Unlike other Detroit area centers, the new location is likely to include abortion services.

Richards and Lori Lamerand, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan, are ramping up for a boom in birth control and other reproductive services -- what Lamerand calls "an onslaught" of women poised to gain new access to reproductive health care. Recession has heightened demand for contraception and for abortion, especially from clients who wouldn't have gone to Planned Parenthood in better times.