Supporters and opponents of abortion rights are using social networking tools — such as blogs, text messaging, Facebook and Twitter — to rally grassroots support and keep their constituencies informed about abortion provisions in congressional health reform legislation, The Hill reports.

For abortion-rights supporters, social networking has been a key component in promoting a planned Dec. 2 lobby day involving more than 40 organizations. According to The Hill, social networking tools helped abortion-rights supporters collect more than 97,000 signatures in three days for an online petition against an amendment by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) included in the House health reform bill (HR 3962). The amendment would ban any insurance plan, public or private, that receives federal subsidies from offering abortion coverage.

According to Elizabeth Shipp, political director for NARAL Pro-Choice America, social media “allows us to go much broader with our message” and helps the group “get out there in a much bigger way.” Kristin Koch, NARAL’s deputy director for communications and online strategies, said that hundreds of people have viewed photos of abortion-rights rallies posted on Twitpic or Flickr and that 7,000 people have viewed videos explaining the debate over abortion provisions in health care reform legislation. NARAL’s Twitter account has more than 60,000 followers. According to Koch, since the Stupak amendment was adopted, NARAL has seen a 15% jump in the number of “friends” it has on Facebook.

Meanwhile, abortion-rights opponents are using social networking tools to garner support for including language similar to the Stupak amendment in the Senate health reform bill. The National Right to Life Committee has six Facebook pages totaling 21,000 friends. The group also maintains the blog stoptheabortionagenda.com and a Twitter account with 1,100 followers (Snyder, The Hill, 11/27).