U.S. Briefs
Kerry advised to advocate abortion, birth control
WASHINGTON, DC - Planned Parenthood president Gloria Feldt told Newsweek
Democratic nominee John Kerry should do more to promote abortion and
birth control in his campaign for the presidency. She encouraged Kerry
to show his true colours in a more public way: "I think they're doing
themselves a disservice, particularly with the women voters whom they
need to bring out, if they don't talk more about their agenda for women's
reproductive health." Kerry has tried to fudge his abortion position
in an attempt to reach out especially to Catholic voters in swing states
such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Missouri by saying that he believes life
begins at conception but that a woman still has a right to choose. Feldt
suggested that Kerry reach out to voters ambivalent about abortion by
playing up his commitment to expanding birth control in America.
Governor signs pro-life legislation
ANCHORAGE - Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski signed into law a bill
that would require women seeking abortions to be counselled on the procedure's
risks and abortion alternatives. Murkowski, a former senator elected
governor in 2002, promised then not to change the state's abortion policies.
His spokesman said that signing the informed consent law does not change
the state's abortion law because it is still legal. The law also requires
that information about fetal development at four-week increments, including
photos, be put on the state's websites.
Bishops to deny communion to -abortion pols
ATLANTA - Three southern U.S. bishops said that elected officials who
support abortion and refuse to recant their position should be denied
communion at Catholic churches in their dioceses. Archbishop John F.
Donoghue of Atlanta and bishops Peter J. Jugis and Robert J. Baker of
Charlotte, N.C. and Charleston, S.C. respectively, said in a joint statement:
"Catholics in political life have the responsibility to exemplify in
their public service (the pro-life) teaching of the Church, and to work
for the protection of all innocent life ... Catholic public officials
who consistently support abortion on demand are cooperating with evil
in a public manner."
