Abortion Rights Group Expands Focus, Strategy

WASHINGTON — The National Abortion Rights Action League, the 25-year-old organization that acts as the political arm of the abortion rights movement, announced Friday that it is expanding its focus to encompass a wide range of reproductive issues and that it will become increasingly active in local politics.

In part, the shift in emphasis by the renamed National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League reflects the changing dynamic of the abortion debate, now that an Administration that supports abortion rights is in power in Washington.

“One of the problems we face as an organization is that a complacency is setting in,” said Kate Michelman, president of the organization, which claims a quarter-million members nationwide.

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala promised in a speech to the group that obtaining universal abortion coverage will remain an important element in the Clinton Administration’s fight to revamp the nation’s health care system.

Some in Congress have warned that the Administration risks losing the entire health care battle if it insists on including abortion in the package of health benefits guaranteed to every American.