Inside Story Americas - US abortion battles

Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Texas state house on Monday to try and stop a sweeping bill from becoming law. The proposal would ban abortions after 20 weeks and impose strict regulations that would shut down all but a handful of abortion clinics across the vast state. Last week, Democratic Senator Wendy Davis delivered a marathon 11-hour speech inside the legislature that helped prevent the bill from passing. But now, Texas governor Rick Perry has convened a special session aimed almost exclusively at passing this legislation. So, has the Republican-controlled state house gone too far? To discuss this on Inside Story Americas, presenter Shihab Rattansi is joined by: Jim Hightower, a Texas-based national syndicated radio show columnist; and Andrea Grimes, a journalist and reproductive rights activist. Meanwhile, college students in the US taking out federally subsidised student loans will, this week, find themselves paying higher interest rates than even those offered by private lenders. With increasing costs, is it still worth it for students to get a higher education in the United States? To discuss this, we are joined by: Tim Donovan; a blogger who focuses on millennial political and economic issues; and Brett Williams, the author of the book Debt for Sale: A Social History of the Credit Trap.