Woman S Right

On the day before Easter, residents of one Palos Verdes Estates street were startled to find anti-abortion protesters marching through their placid neighborhood, toting a banner reading "Palos Bloody Verdes." The protesters had come to picket the home of a doctor whom they claim performs abortions.

On the day before Easter, residents of one Palos Verdes Estates street were startled to find anti-abortion protesters marching through their placid neighborhood, toting a banner reading "Palos Bloody Verdes." The protesters had come to picket the home of a doctor whom they claim performs abortions.

President Obama officially launched his re-election campaign with public rallies in Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday.With that launch came a re-tooled stump speech which both defended his record in office and laid out the contrast with Republican nominee Mitt Romney. The speeches in both cities were largely the same. Here's a full transcript of his remarks in Columbus, following the acknowledgement of local leaders. OBAMA: "I want to thank so many of our Neighborhood Team Leaders for being here today.  You guys will be the backbone of this campaign.  And I want the rest of you to join a team or become a leader yourself, because we are going to win this thing the old-fashioned way -- door by door, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood.

SEATTLE - A federal judge has struck down an Idaho law prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks, ruling that the so-called fetal pain law violates U.S. Supreme Court prohibitions against unduly impeding a woman's ability to seek an abortion before her fetus is able to live outside the womb. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Boise declared the 2011 law -- similar to limits adopted in at least seven other states -- to be unconstitutional in a ruling that took the Idaho Legislature to task for acting against the advice of its own attorney general.

Alabama this week moved to tighten the regulation of clinics and of medical personnel who perform abortions, the latest step in what abortion rights advocates argue is a campaign to use the regulatory power of government to limit a woman's right to an abortion. The Alabama legislature on Tuesday gave final passage to a measure that places restrictions, including a requirement that doctors who perform abortions have hospital privileges. The House voted 68-21 to approve the bill, known as the Women's Health and Safety Act, hours after the Senate voted 20-10 to approve it. Republican Gov. Robert Bentley is expected to sign it. The bill also sets stricter building requirements, including wider halls and doors and better fire suppression systems.

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund began a $1.4-million ad campaign Wednesday attacking Mitt Romney as “just wrong for women,” injecting the abortion rights issue into a presidential campaign that has been heavily focused on the economy. The TV commercial is aimed at three swing markets - West Palm Beach, Fla.; Des Moines, Iowa; and northern Virginia, along with Washington, D.C. - and the launch coincided with the organization's endorsement of President Obama's reelection bid. The endorsement was certainly no surprise, given the sharp differences between the candidates on abortion and government-mandated contraception coverage.

HOUSTON -- Attorneys for a pregnant Texas girl who sued her parents after alleging that they tried to force her to have an abortion have negotiated an agreement allowing her to keep the baby. “This is a tremendous victory and another life has been saved,” said Greg Terra, an attorney and president of the Austin-based Texas Center for the Defense of Life in a statement. “Our victory today stands for the principle that 'choice' goes both ways. Under Roe v. Wade and post-Roe cases, a teenage girl has the absolute legal right to choose life, even over the strong objections, pressure, and punishments of her parents.” He added that “we are very proud of our teenage client for being strong enough to stand against her parents to save her unborn child's life.” Last year Terra's group represented a 14-year-old from Corpus Christi who alleged that her family was forcing her to have an abortion, a case eventually settled with a confidential agreement.

Are gay marriage and abortion culturally equivalent? As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to take up one of the great civil rights issues of our day, many people wonder whether the court might move cautiously so as to avoid the social upheaval and spasms of violence unleashed by its famous 1973 decision legalizing abortion. What a terrible mistake that would be. Tuesday, we will get the chance to hear arguments in the California case over Prop. 8, which outlawed gay marriage in 2008.

For the Obama campaign, the creation of “The Life of Julia” was the latest campaign gimmick - drawing in female voters through social media to an infographic showing what a young woman's life might look like under the policies of a White House run by Mitt Romney, rather than by President Obama. But Romney does not seem amused. “This little cartoon that they have on the life of Julia really reveals the weakness of the president's policies,” the presumed Republican nominee told Fox News host Sean Hannity during a taped interview that aired Tuesday night.

LANCASTER, Ohio - Mitt Romney and Paul D. Ryan reunited on the campaign trail Friday, on a surge of fresh momentum from their debate performances and gains in the polls. “You know what, there's a growing crescendo of enthusiasm. People recognize this is not an ordinary campaign, this is a critical time for our country,” Romney told 5,000 supporters gathered in the picturesque town square here. “There's more energy and passion, people getting behind this campaign. We're taking back this country, going to get it strong again.” Against a backdrop of a billowing, three-story-high American flag, and the brick Romanesque-style municipal building and stately trees with leaves that were changing colors, Romney and Ryan both pointed to their debate performances as benchmarks in their White House bid. PHOTOS: Mitt Romney's past Romney offered a strong performance against President Obama last week, and will face off with him again on Tuesday.

TAMPA, Fla. -- About 1,000 Christian conservatives rallied against President Obama and for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in a sometimes-fiery gathering at a downtown theater Sunday afternoon. Speakers at the Faith & Freedom Coalition gathering blamed Obama for a series  of woes, including high unemployment, the rise of Islamic radicals and America's purported moral decay. Former House Speaker and failed presidential candidate Newt Gingrich got in particularly sharp jabs at the president - calling him “the most extreme, pro-abortion president in U.S. history” and saying Obama effectively condoned the killing of children with his abortion stance as an Illinois lawmaker.