WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government has issued new rules allowing states to use federally-subsidized child health insurance programs to provide coverage for prenatal care, a move harshly criticized by abortion rights advocates.

The rules issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allow states to treat a fetus as a child eligible for government-subsidized health care, AFP reported.

"What better way to allow kids to have the best start in life, a healthy start?" HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a statement.

The bill effectively allowing insurance companies to disallow abortion coverage and health care services to deny women access to reproductive health services and information. Judith Lichtman, president of the national partnership for women and families, called the measure a "sham policy" whose true goal "is to make a statement about the legal status of fetuses and undermine women's legal right to reproductive choice." In a statement she said, "It fails to provide comprehensive coverage for pregnant women, instead only providing coverage for the fetus." Kate Michelman of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) said Wednesday's legislation also "severely restricted freedom of choice for American women." The bill, she said in a statement, "is one of the most aggressive attempts to restrict reproductive freedom and choice in recent history," calling it a "sweeping bill with dire ramifications for a woman's constitutional right to choose."

"This bill gives insurance companies the right not to pay for abortions, and hospitals and clinics the right to refuse to counsel, or even refer women to another provider," said Michelman.