Abortion Rights

The legislation proposed by Baltimore City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake to require crisis pregnancy centers that do not provide abortion or birth control services (or referrals for those services) to post a sign saying so has turned into a tempest in a teapot. Those clinics, which are nonprofits, say they're being singled out by abortion rights groups. Advocates from NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland say they've sent undercover interns to centers like those - including one in Baltimore - and found they were given inaccurate information about abortion, such as the myths that it causes cancer and infertility.

WASHINGTON -The Senate approved the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius to head the Department of Health and Human Services, filling the final seat in President Barack Obama's Cabinet on the eve of his 100th day in office. Democrats had sought a quick vote on the Kansas governor as Congress moves ahead with health care reform this summer, but Republicans slowed Sebelius' advancement because of her record in favor of abortion rights. GOP procedural objections faded with the recent outbreak of swine flu and the threat of a global pandemic.

WASHINGTON -Taking another step into the abortion debate, the Obama administration will move today to rescind a controversial rule that allows health care workers to deny abortion counseling or other family planning services if doing so would violate their moral beliefs, according to administration officials. The rollback of the so-called "conscience rule" comes just two months after the Bush administration announced it late last year in one of its final policy initiatives. The new administration's action seems certain to stoke ideological battles between supporters and opponents of abortion rights over the responsibilities of doctors, nurses and other medical workers to their patients.

HOUSTON -- Rudolph W. Giuliani challenged Republican Party orthodoxy yesterday, saying that his support for abortion rights, gun control and gay rights should not disqualify him from winning the party's presidential nomination. Republicans need to be tolerant of dissenting views on those issues if they want to hold the White House, he said. In a forceful summation of the substantive and political case for his candidacy, delivered to a conservative audience at Houston Baptist University, Giuliani, a former mayor of New York, acknowledged that his views on social issues are out of line with those of many Republican primary voters.

A shift in strategy of abortion opponents was critical: Exploit the perceived barbarity of the partial-birth abortion procedure and direct efforts to outlaw it. President Bush, though a disappointment to many conservatives, contributed to the fight by appointing John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court. And last week, the two justices did their part by helping swing the court toward a major restriction of abortion rights, a 5-4 decision that upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortion and extended the court's jurisdiction to "the life of the unborn."

ATLANTA -- If President Bush gets his way, the Supreme Court will vacate Roe v. Wade even before Mr. Bush vacates the White House. With the expected confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. - and depending on the vote of the moderately conservative Justice Anthony M. Kennedy - the right to a legal abortion could be struck down, leaving states to decide whether to keep abortion legal. Two years ago, the Center for Reproductive Rights estimated that 30 states would declare abortions illegal within a year of a high court decision overturning Roe. That makes it all the more important that progressives unite in a campaign to persuade sexually active Americans to use contraceptives.

If federal Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, opponents of abortion have high hopes that he will help craft decisions that outlaw or significantly limit the procedure. But even if the court eventually rules that the Constitution does not protect a woman's right to an abortion, the procedure will likely remain readily available in Maryland. Most legal scholars agree that if the court overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion decision, each state would have the authority to decide whether the procedure is legal.

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. pledged to keep an "open mind" on abortion-rights cases and denied that he has any judicial agenda to restrict abortions, as he navigated carefully yesterday through a minefield of questions from senators weighing his confirmation. During a marathon session on Capitol Hill, Alito declined repeatedly to detail his views on such issues as whether the Constitution protects abortion rights or President Bush had the power to authorize domestic spying by the National Security Agency without warrants.

WASHINGTON -- To anyone here with a long memory, the Samuel Alito case recalls the saga of another federal judge, G. Harrold Carswell, nominated for the Supreme Court by President Richard M. Nixon 35 years ago. As Alito followed Harriet Miers, Carswell was picked as a replacement for an earlier choice found unacceptable by the Senate, Judge Clement Haynsworth of South Carolina. Like Alito, Carswell became a problem for the White House because of views he had expressed 20 years earlier.

EMILY's List, the biggest political action committee in the nation, announced this week that it is endorsing state Sen. Paula C. Hollinger in the 3rd Congressional District, a move that could steer tens of thousands of dollars to her campaign and give her an early advantage in the crowded race. The organization, which is dedicated to electing Democratic women who support abortion rights, praised Hollinger as a national leader in health care policy. "She has a proven base and a long list of legislative accomplishments and an ability to win tough races," said Martha McKenna, campaign services director of EMILY's List.