Abortion is key US political flashpoint as laws tighten
Outside an abortion clinic in Toledo, Ohio, the protesters gather silently. They clutch crucifixes. Some kneel in the road.
Inside it is quiet, calm and the facilities are pretty basic. Because of the protesters, most mainstream hospitals have stopped providing abortions, gynaecologist Dr Martin Ruddock tells me. Here they serve many women from low-income neighbourhoods.
Because of threats to his life by pro-life campaigners, Dr Ruddock travels to work in a bullet-proof vest.
Now Ohio is on the front line of America's abortion furore, which has been cranked up massively during the Republican Party's primary season. While presidential candidates have vied with each other to sound more anti-abortion, the past 12 months have seen a major attempt to tighten abortion laws at state level.
In Texas it is now mandatory for a woman to have a so-called "transvaginal ultrasound" prior to a termination. The law requires the doctor to display images of the foetus and make the heartbeat audible. The woman can decline to view the images and listen to the heartbeat, but the doctor must verbally describe the image - even if the woman does not want to hear it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17709398
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