The feds distribute some $280 million a year to subsidize birth control and other reproductive and preventive health care for low-income patients. The money can’t be used to pay for abortions, but it can go to clinics that use other sources of funding to perform abortions.

Anti-abortion groups are pushing President Bush to change that in the waning months of his administration, the WSJ reports.

“President Bush has defined himself as a pro-life president, and this is definitely something he should see as part of his legacy,” the executive director of the conservative Eagle Forum told the paper.

Planned Parenthood, which treats about a third of the patients who benefit from the funding program, is also the nation’s largest provider of abortions.

The head of a trade group representing family planning clinics said a change in the rules would likely prompt many clinics to stop taking the funds altogether, which could reduce poor women’s access to basic preventive care.

There’s a long and winding backstory here that starts with Ronald Reagan. He imposed a rule that said the funds, known as Title X funds, couldn’t go to clinics that perform abortions or that refer women to clinics that do. The move was challenged in court and ultimately upheld by the Supremes, but Bill Clinton scrapped the rule when he took office. Even if Bush does reinstate the rule, it’s all but certain to be scrapped again if a Democrat is the next president.