Abortion Debate

The assassination of Dr. George Tiller, long targeted by extremists because he performed late-term abortions, is a reminder that fringe adherents of the "pro-life" movement are willing to desecrate the very value they claim to champion. But it distorts reality to insinuate that millions of Americans who oppose abortion condone such tactics. Tiller's killing shouldn't be exploited by activists on either side to score political points.

Confronting the nation's deep schism over abortion, President Obama on Sunday called for greater understanding on all sides and "open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words" on the issue as he spoke to graduates at one of America's premier Catholic universities. Obama emphasized the importance of common ground as opponents of abortion rights protested his appearance and the honorary degree he received from the University of Notre Dame.

Re "The holy war over Kathleen Sebelius," Opinion, April 25 Tim Rutten presents the unholy attempt by some clergy in the Catholic Church to force their doctrinal religious views on elected representatives. That bishops would forbid Catholic officeholders like Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius from taking Communion because of their political stands shows how far we have come. And not in the right direction. Millions of us supported John F. Kennedy, either because we didn't care what religion he was or because he assured us that his Catholicism would play no role in his presidency.

Stepping quickly into an abortion debate he largely avoided as a candidate, President Obama on Friday overturned a controversial ban on U.S. support to international aid groups that provide abortion services around the world. Reversing the so-called global gag rule was a top priority of abortion rights supporters, who have long criticized the regulation as imperiling women's health, particularly in developing nations.

Re "When in doubt -- pro-life," Opinion, Oct. 16 Jonah Goldberg asks why we don't give "the unborn" the benefit of the doubt. Here we go again -- another antiabortion tract from a member of the gender that doesn't get pregnant. Hey, Jonah, how about giving members of the gender that does get pregnant the benefit of the doubt and trust them with what has to be the most agonizing decision a human being can make?

A 2 1/2 -hour documentary on abortion may sound like a hard sell, but the depth and scope of Tony Kaye's grueling "Lake of Fire" nonetheless justifies feeling like you've just taken a long, blistering soak in one. The title refers to that special place in the afterlife reserved -- according to some who have made the overturning of Roe vs.

At first glance, "Waitress" and "Knocked Up" seem to have little in common, aside from proving to be chug-along successes this summer. The former, a Southern-fried, sweet-natured chick flick, stars Keri Russell as a gutsy young woman who yearns to break free of her stultifying life by baking pies; the latter, a ribald, testosterone-fueled sex comedy from Judd Apatow, offers a decidedly ruder take on love, relationships and commitment.

Rudolph W. Giuliani sought Friday to recover from his stumbles on abortion, an effort that underscored the trouble faced by top Republican presidential candidates as they try to remake their images to strengthen appeals to social conservatives. The weeklong dust-up over Giuliani's abortion stance has also made what was already an unsettled race for the Republican nomination even more so.

MY WIFE AND I just had an abortion. Two, actually. We walked into a doctor's office in downtown Los Angeles with four thriving fetuses -- two girls and two boys -- and walked out an hour later with just the girls, whom we will name, if we're lucky enough to keep them, Rosalind and Vivian. Rosalind is my mother's name. We didn't want to. We didn't mean to. We didn't do anything wrong, which is to say, we did everything right.

In the spring of 1992, all that stood in the way of the Supreme Court's overruling the Roe vs. Wade decision was an Irish Catholic from Sacramento who firmly believed abortion was immoral. But a few weeks before the decision was to be announced, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy told his colleagues he had changed his mind -- not about the morality of abortion, but about the wisdom of overturning a long-standing constitutional right.