Abortion issue gets spotlight in swing states

Meanwhile, as the GOP prepares to include tough anti-abortion positions in its party platform, the Associated Press notes that voters in the presidential race will get a stark choice on social issues, including access to birth control and abortion rights. 

NPR: Issue Of Abortion Back In Spotlight In Swing States
With women's issues front and center again in the presidential campaign, a bus tour through several swing states kicked off Monday in opposition to President Obama's views on abortion. At the same time, the Obama campaign launched a new TV ad -; aimed at some of the same voters in some of the same key states -; criticizing Republican Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, on the issue (McCammon, 8/20).

CNN: GOP Prepares Tough Anti-Abortion Platform
The Republican Party is set to once again enshrine into its official platform support for "a human life amendment" to the Constitution that would outlaw abortion without making explicit exemptions for rape or incest, according to draft language of the platform obtained exclusively by CNN late Monday. "Faithful to the 'self-evident' truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed," the draft platform declares. "We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children." The party will also reaffirm its opposition to federally-funded stem cell research and demand that the government "should not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage" (Hamby, 8/21).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: GOP And Democratic Tickets Offer Voters Stark Choice On Gay Marriage And Abortion Rights
Voters in this presidential election may face the starkest choice ever on the hot-button social issues of same-sex marriage, abortion rights and access to birth control. Even as most voters tell pollsters the economy is their chief concern, advocacy groups on the left and right are in high gear -; with bus tours, YouTube videos and fundraising -; pointing out the sharp differences between the parties in the current phase of the culture wars (8/21).