They view it as a potential step in the direction of banning abortion.
He said nothing, however, about banning abortion, a conservative cause that has cost him support.
Though India has made efforts to ban such abortions, they remain common.
The problem is that until February, the law was believed to virtually ban abortion.
"Therefore to ban abortion would probably take a state constitutional amendment, and I think that's a very long shot."
We're not going to pass a constitutional amendment banning abortion in 900 years.
He even pushed through a bill to ban abortion recently, in part to attract Catholic support.
The issue arose as Parliament was moving toward banning abortion.
The Russian anti-abortion movement is small, and even its leaders say they have no hope of banning abortion.