Abortion: No Longer Unspeakable

In its crusade to protect the unborn, the Reagan Administration planned to forbid federally funded family-planning clinics to even mention abortion to women seeking their services. The restriction, which was to take effect March 3, would have affected 4,000 clinics and 4.3 million patients a year. Last week, however, a federal judge in Boston ruled that the guidelines were unconstitutional and could not be enforced anywhere in the U.S.

“The regulations are specifically designed to suppress speech, and particularly directed at the suppression of one viewpoint,” wrote U.S. District Judge Walter Jay Skinner. “They run directly contrary to the dictates of the First Amendment.” The Administration has not decided whether to appeal the decision.