A coalition of more than 3,000 advocacy groups criticized Congress for fixing air traffic furloughs but ignoring the sequester's other consequences, such as medical research cuts.

NDD United, which fights reductions in discretionary spending, urged lawmakers in a letter Friday to turn off sequestration altogether instead of "picking favorites."

"Earmarking certain priorities for exemption in a piecemeal fashion is not a long-term solution," the groups wrote.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) is bringing back a bill to ban most abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Franks, a member of the Judiciary Committee, reintroduced the legislation Friday after an almost identical measure failed to pass the House last year under a suspension of the rules.

That procedure requires two-thirds of the chamber to support a bill in order for it to pass. 

Federal regulators acted fairly when denying drugmaker AstraZeneca an extension to the exclusive rights to make an antischizophrenic drug, an appeals court said Friday.

Speaking to Planned Parenthood's national conference, the president criticized Republican governors' attempts to limit abortion access.

Nearly half of the U.S. working population lacked health insurance or adequate coverage in 2012, but many of those individuals will benefit next year as major provisions of the Affordable Care Act take effect, according to The Commonwealth Fund.

The New York-based research foundation reported Friday that the uninsured population has risen substantially since 2003 and somewhat since 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law.

Last year, 55 million lacked health coverage for some time during the year, and 30 million had high out-of-pocket costs that rendered them underinsured. 

Obama's day: Planned Parenthood, Jordan

Democratic senators tell White House of concerns about healthcare law rollout

Florida Medicaid expansion in doubt

Republicans hammered Democrats for allegedly seeking to carve themselves out of a requirement in the healthcare law.

Democrats moved quickly on Thursday to tamp down a report that they're seeking to "exempt" themselves from a key piece of President Obama's healthcare law. Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate said they do not want to change a provision that requires lawmakers and their staffs to buy insurance through newly created insurance exchanges.

"There are not now, have never been, nor will there ever be any discussions about exempting members of Congress or Congressional staff from Affordable Care Act provisions that apply to any employees of any other public or private employer offering health care," a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said.

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Passage of healthcare reform was worth any defeat the Democrats might have suffered at the polls as a result, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday.