Abortion

They gathered in the shadow of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia's main Catholic church, in an amen chorus of support for nuns. "For Sister Marie Timothy, who assured me I didn't have an attitude problem and that I was a strong woman in the making," said a school nurse. "For Sister Evelyn, who put my feet on the path of demonstrating in Washington in 1972," said a baby boomer. "To Sister Mary Paul, for teaching us the mysteries of sex in middle school!"

Singer-songwriter Sinead O'Connor was in the middle of a concert tour last August and about nine weeks pregnant when she checked into a Minneapolis hospital for an abortion. "I think people don't necessarily understand, because they haven't had the experience, that to decide to terminate a pregnancy is probably the most difficult decision a woman would have to make," O'Connor, 23, said in a recent interview from England. She wrote "My Special Child" - a gentle, mournful ballad, almost a lullaby, with acoustic guitar and an Irish chamber orchestra - about two weeks later and began performing it. After playing this spring at a benefit for Kurdish refugees, she decided she wanted to release it as a single; all royalties are being donated to the International Red Cross.

At the bleak intersection of Broadway and Newton Avenue in Camden, a man reverently kisses the bare belly of a beaming, very pregnant woman. The couple - who are African American - are in a photograph on a billboard, but the image is startling nevertheless. And so are the words that accompany it: "Fatherhood begins in the womb. " "Black children are beautiful, and too many are being aborted," says Ryan Bomberger, of the Radiance Foundation, which opposes abortion and promotes marriage.

AFTER READING Christine Flowers' Aug. 22 op-ed on Sen. Obama's abortion record, I'm deeply disturbed. I'm a Democrat and will be voting for Mr. Obama in the fall. I'm vehemently pro-life, and will remain that way. But for Ms. Flowers to suggest that Sen. Obama essentially supports infanticide is truly repulsive. Ms. Flowers seems to be implying that at the time this bill was being debated in the Illinois Senate there weren't already laws protecting babies born alive after abortions.

I respond to Vickie Fischer's Jan. 26 letter on legal abortion. She states that when abortion was illegal, women had to go to dark, dirty places to have abortions, and the maternal death rate was high. She also implies that legal abortion does not kill women. First, although there certainly were, and are, dark dirty places where illegal abortions are performed, the majority of illegal abortions before 1973 were performed by doctors. They were more back-door-to-the-office than back alley.

People gathered last Sunday in front of St. Agnes Church in West Chester for a "March for Life" protesting abortion. The protesters sang songs as they marched from the church to the courthouse. The ceremony included speeches.

A chronological review of the key events concerning abortion in the past 13 years: Jan. 22, 1973: In Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the constitutional right to privacy guarantees women the choice of abortion, with states only allowed to regulate the conditions in the third trimester. This overturns criminal laws against abortion in Pennsylvania, as elsewhere, and opens the battle between pro-choice and anti-abortion forces over what new rules should govern. Sept.

Here's some general advice about calculating the political fallout from the abortion issue: Don't make any hasty assumptions. In New Jersey and Virginia, Republican candidates for governor are hurting badly because they have supported rigid restrictions on abortions. In Florida, the Republican governor is a staunch foe of abortion, but the legislature handily buried his proposed restrictions. In Texas, anti-abortion Gov. William Clements has called for attempts to write new limits into state law. In Pennsylvania, however, the politics of abortion play out very differently.

The subject of abortion has made a belated appearance in the Philadelphia mayoral campaign. Mayor Goode's campaign aides received a letter last week that portrays Goode's Republican foe, Frank L. Rizzo, as being committed to "supporting the pro-life position in issues which are likely to be addressed by city government. " Goode, the letter said, has a "strongly pro-abortion record. " Goode contended yesterday that abortion is "not an issue in this campaign. " Nevertheless, Goode campaign aides didn't ignore the letter.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A new private supply ship for the International Space Station remained stuck on the ground Saturday after rocket engine trouble led to a last-second abort of the historic flight. All nine engines for the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared to life Saturday morning. But with a half-second remaining before liftoff, the onboard computers automatically shut everything down. So instead of blasting off on a delivery mission to the space station, the rocket stayed on its launchpad amid a plume of engine exhaust.

Five years ago, as soon as her breast cancer treatment ended, Mindy Saifer Cohen put on the pink. She e-mailed everyone she knew, asking if they'd walk in her name at the annual Race for the Cure. By that first race day, Team Mindy was already a juggernaut. About 120 people marched by her side to raise money for the cause — so many that they won an award from the race's organizer, the Susan G. Komen foundation, for assembling the largest entrant in the event's friends and family division.

Obama takes the low road I am aghast at what I witnessed on the news this week. President Obama was at a news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon to allegedly talk about trade and economics among the three countries ("U.S., Mexico leaders spar on guns, drugs," Tuesday). However, Obama proceeded to attack the U.S. Supreme Court, apparently thinking he sees the handwriting on the wall with the striking down of Obamacare.

At the bleak intersection of Broadway and Newton Avenue in Camden, a man reverently kisses the bare belly of a beaming, very pregnant woman. The couple - who are African American - are in a photograph on a billboard, but the image is startling nevertheless. And so are the words that accompany it: "Fatherhood begins in the womb. " "Black children are beautiful, and too many are being aborted," says Ryan Bomberger, of the Radiance Foundation, which opposes abortion and promotes marriage.

Scott W. Gaylord and Thomas J. Molony?are both professors at the Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, N.C. The next wave of abortion regulation has arrived. Pennsylvania currently is considering whether to join 23 states that already have laws regulating - and in some cases requiring - the use of ultrasounds in connection with abortion procedures. Similar legislation is pending in nine other states, and the trend shows no sign of stopping. The ultrasound laws are being hotly debated in state capitals and roundly criticized on editorial pages.

It's ironic that the studio founded by the son of Hollywood founding father Samuel Goldwyn should be the one releasing October Baby. Apparently, the acquisitions department never took to heart Goldwyn the elder's most famous Goldwynism about what movies are supposed to do: "Pictures were made to entertain. If you want to send a message, call Western Union. " October Baby is earnest, sober, and serious, a faith-based film that clothes itself in more subtle, faith-friendly garb.

Radio advertisers aren't alone in knowing to butt out of customers' sex lives. Across Pennsylvania, legislators who supported the Women's Right to Know Act - a.k.a. the Transvaginal Ultrasound Bill - are rushing to retract. Like the sponsors dumping Rush Limbaugh after he called a contraception advocate a "slut," pols reading polls have erased their names from the antiwoman measure. As of last week, 30 of HB 1077's 111 cosponsors had bolted. Gov. Corbett seeks a smaller bureaucracy, but when it comes to abortion, he supports wedging government into women's private parts.

Kate Michelman is president emerita of NARAL Pro-Choice America and author of "With Liberty and Justice for All: A Life Spent Protecting the Right to Choose " It seems a lifetime ago that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that a state law prohibiting the use of contraceptives violated the right to marital privacy. Eight years later, the constitutional principles underlying that decision were pivotal to the court's ruling in Roe v. Wade, which recognized that the right to have an abortion was a protected, private decision, with some exceptions.

SO YESTERDAY I was at Starbucks with Kathleen Kane, discussing our transvaginal ultrasounds. I had one 17 years ago, after a miscarriage. Kane underwent three of them in more recent years, also after losing a pregnancy. How do we feel about it? Let's just say that the passage of time hasn't mellowed our memories. Kane found her ultrasounds "invasive, uncomfortable and often humiliating. " My experience was similar, despite the sensitivity, kindness and professionalism of the technician administering the diagnostic test.

Somali militia expels aid group NAIROBI, Kenya - Al-Qaeda-linked Somali insurgents say they are expelling British aid group Save the Children from areas they control. A Tuesday statement from the al-Shabab militia said Save the Children distributed 4,470 cartons of expired porridge to children, was corrupt, and offered bribes. Save the Children officials were not immediately available for comment. Al-Shabab has expelled several aid organizations from its territory, including the Red Cross and the World Health Organization.