Cecile Richards

It's vasectomy day at the Planned Parenthood health center on 30th Street in Los Angeles, near USC. The lobby is bursting with men, women and children. In the adjacent administrative offices that used to be part of a garment factory, Monday morning is always hectic, vasectomy day or not. In one of two call centers, about a dozen employees are hunched over telephones, scheduling appointments and providing information. They handle an average of 2,000 calls a day. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this story reported that Planned Parenthood spokesman Tait Sye said the government shutdown would have affected Medicare clients the most.

As they gathered Tuesday for a national strategy session, antiabortion activists faced an unexpected revolt in their own ranks. Some of the biggest groups in the movement, including Focus on the Family and National Right to Life, are under attack from fellow activists who accuse them of turning a godly cause into a money-grubbing industry. Those groups have raised tens of millions of dollars and trumpeted victory after incremental victory in the 34 years since Roe vs. Wade legalized abortions.

The outgoing Bush administration is planning to announce a broad new "right of conscience" rule permitting medical facilities, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable, including abortion and possibly even artificial insemination and birth control. For more than 30 years, federal law has dictated that doctors and nurses may refuse to perform abortions.

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - Picking up where their contentious debate left off, President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney battled Wednesday for the support of female voters, underscoring their potentially decisive role in settling the fiercely competitive race. Buoyed by a much-improved performance Tuesday night, Obama traveled to the swing state of Iowa, where he renewed his attacks on Romney for proposing an end to federal funding for Planned Parenthood, and again touted legislation he signed making it easier for women to sue for job discrimination.

The Food and Drug Administration decided Thursday to make the "morning-after" contraceptive pill known as Plan B available without a prescription to people 18 and older, ending a three-year impasse that put the agency at the center of a polarizing debate over reproductive choice. Girls 17 and younger will need a prescription to obtain the pills, which will be available only from pharmacists at drugstores and health clinics. Purchasers will be required to show proof of their age.

In an emerging revolt against abstinence-only sex education, states are turning down millions of dollars in federal grants, unwilling to accept White House dictates that the money be used for classes focused almost exclusively on teaching chastity. In Ohio, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland said that regardless of the state's sluggish economic picture, he didn't see the point in taking part in the controversial State Abstinence Education Program anymore.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Sounding at times like a college lecturer and others like a revival speaker, former President Clinton delivered a thumping endorsement Wednesday night of incumbent Barack Obama, saying his policies were slowly healing the country and would lead to dramatic improvement in a second term. “No president, not me or any of my predecessors, could have repaired all the damage in just four years," Clinton said in a rapturously received speech that capped the second night of the Democratic National Convention.

When Barack Obama and John McCain offered their sharply divergent views on abortion this weekend at an Orange County church, it was a rare chance to hear the presidential rivals address one of the most contentious issues in American politics. Each has sought to steer clear of the often fierce disputes between their parties on abortion, relegating it to the low ranks of campaign quarrels. With the election being fought largely over centrist voters, the White House hopefuls have tried to reach out to those who disagree with their views on abortion.

After toppling the long-dominant Republicans in a hard-fought election, the Democratic Party's incoming congressional leaders have immediately found themselves in another difficult struggle -- with their own supporters.

After three days of tumult, the breast cancer foundation Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced it had reversed its decision to deny further grants to Planned Parenthood Federation of America for breast-health services. The decision follows an outpouring of criticism from politicians and other nonprofit organizations, as well as strong public reaction via Twitter, Facebook and other social media. "We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives," Friday's statement from Komen said.