An anti-abortion group is back protesting outside Wake County high schools today.

The Raleigh Police Department gave a permit for a group called Respect Life to picket today across the street from Athens Drive High School. Police informed Athens Drive administrators, who notified parents and students ahead of time so they wouldn't be surprised to see the protesters today.

"Mr. (Principal William) Crockett emphasizes that this is not school related and will not interrupt activities at the school," flashed across the screen during Thursday's Athens TV News broadcast. "Those who drive to school will want to be extra careful not to be distracted while driving."

Similar protests have been held outside high schools across the school district.

Are high school campuses the appropriate place to hold the fight over abortion?

As noted in today's article, abortion opponents have held protests in front of several Wake County high schools over the past year and plan to do several more. Most recently, they were at Enloe High School on Tuesday.

“We’re trying to educate students,” said Bill Schultz, whose helping organize the protests. “You can call it a sidewalk classroom for them to learn the truth and make better decisions about their lives.”

A national anti-abortion group is asking Gov. Beverly Perdue to look into the details of a new UNC system requirement that all students have health insurance.

Students for Life of America has asked Perdue to investigate a number of issues surrounding the UNC system's new health insurance program for students.

The university wants all students to have health insurance and mandates that they buy into a new insurance plan it is offering unless they can prove they have coverage from another source.

In the face of criticism, UNC system leaders last week said students could opt out of the portion of their UNC insurance plans that covers abortion.

The "opt-out" provision, in which students in the program have automatic abortion coverage until they request it be dropped, is one of several of the plan's features under fire by the national pro-life group.

The group raises several other questions, including why students who opt out of the abortion coverage of their plans pay the same rate as those students whose plans include it.

UNC officials have said the abortion coverage is a small enough piece of the entire plan that its individual cost is negligible.

Click the link below to read the group's letter.

Documents:

I reported yesterday on a UNC system decision to let students opt out of the piece of their health care coverage that covered abortions.

To answer the basic question of "why" the university wants all students insured: officials have said they feel students take unnecessary health risks due to cost or lack of insurance and felt they could leverage the buying power of the entire university to create an affordable system.

And again - UNC isn't requiring students to buy health insurance from the university. But it is requiring they have it from somewhere.

Here's more on that issue.

Under e-mail assault from a pro-life student group, UNC system leaders have tweaked a new health insurance plan so students can opt out of coverage for abortions.

The system is instituting a new health insurance program this fall, an attempt to make sure all 200,000 or so public university students have some sort of coverage.

While the university isn't requiring students to by the UNC insurance, it is mandating that all students have some sort of health coverage, either through their parents or purchased elsewhere.

Students who don't already have coverage can purchase the new UNC plan, which offers annual premiums of a bit more than $700 on average. (The precise dollar amount varies a bit by campus. Here's a link to that information).

But in the face of criticism, the system announced today that students can opt not to have abortions covered by their plans.

"No student will be required to have this coverage as part of the new health care plan, nor will they be paying for anybody else," said UNC system President Erskine Bowles.

A national group called Students for Life of America have railed against the UNC insurance program, saying students would have to pay for elective abortions, regardless of their personal beliefs on that controversial issue.

Students who do opt out of the abortion portion of the insurance plan won't pay a cheaper rate because the abortion element doesn't affect its cost, officials said.

Speaking at Notre Dame's commencement Sunday, President Barack Obama faced a controversy head-on, urging students to keep an open mind when grappling with the issue of abortion.

That's the issue that caused such a furor in the days and weeks leading up to Obama's appearance Sunday at Notre Dame, a Catholic university with a huge base of alums who disagree with the president's views on abortion rights.

He spoke to a crowd estimated at 12,000 in South Bend, at one point acknowledging that it isn't realistic to expect everyone to come to agrement on such a controversial and emotional issue.

Here's a transcript of his remarks.