by Matthew Hay Brown

Making his first papal visit to the United States in the midst of a presidential election, Pope Benedict XVI had stepped lightly around the issues that ignite partisan debate here - immigration and the war in Iraq among them - even as he urged Catholics to exercise their faith in the public square.

But not so today, when he proclaimed the "inalienable dignity and rights" of "the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother's womb."

The line from Benedict's homily drew cheers from the crowd of 57,000 who packed Yankee Stadium for the third and final mass of the pontiff's visit. In its forthrightness, as compared to the language in which he couched his references to other issues, it had the effect of elevating opposition to abortion above other Catholic positions subject to American political action.

At the United Nations, Benedict's call for "a deeper search for ways of pre-empting and managing conflicts by exploring every possible diplomatic avenue" might have been a veiled criticism of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

A joint statement released by the Holy See and the White House about discussions between Benedict and President Bush on immigration and the conduct of the war on terror seemed intentionally vague.

On abortion, however, the pontiff was unequivocal, praising the Catholic Church in America for its "prophetic witness in the defense of life."

by Matthew Hay Brown, updated

If it’s Jan. 22, it must be the March for Life. On the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, demonstrators today are filling Washington hotels, crowding the Metro and jamming up the streets en route to the National Mall, where they will hear speeches and make their opposition to abortion known.

They have been welcomed by Republicans including President Bush, who met with several marchers this morning at the White House.

“Thirty-five years ago today the United States Supreme Court declared and decided that under the law an unborn child is not considered a person,” Bush said. “Biology confirms that from the start each unborn child is a separate individual with his or her own genetic code. Babies can now survive outside the mother's womb at younger and younger ages. And the fingers and toes and beating hearts that we can see on an unborn child's ultrasound come with something that we cannot see: a soul.”

Supporters of abortion rights, meanwhile, are celebrating the anniversary. The National Organization for Women is planning a vigil this afternoon outside the Supreme Court.

“Though we are celebrating 35 years of constitutional protection of a woman’s right to abortion, we cannot led our guard down,” NOW President Kim Gandy said. “With so many limitations and roadlocks, the promise of Roe is already denied to many women, and access to birth control is under increasing attack. This year we have the chance to elect a new administration and send new members to Congress who will help protect and expand our reproductive freedom. Come November we must elect a president who will be vigilant in upholding a woman's right to make her own childbearing decisions, including access to birth control and abortion.”

by James Oliphant, and updated

The abortion rights advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice America was unhappy with Verizon. The telecommunications giant recently rejected a request from the group to use its network to transmit text messages to abortion rights supporters.

NARAL wanted Verizon subscribers to be able to submit a “short code” to Verizon in order to receive text alerts from the organization, but Verizon refused. The company says it has the right to not allow its network to be used for “controversial” or “unsavory” purposes. Other wireless companies have allowed the messages, which has become a popular means of organizing grass-roots movements.

NARAL urged its supporters to send e-blasts to Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam.

Interestingly, Verizon’s general counsel is none other than William Barr, the former attorney general under President George H.W. Bush who was briefly mentioned as a possible successor to Alberto Gonzales. Verizon’s campaign contributions are more bipartisan however. Its political action committee has thrown money to Republicans and Democrats alike, with special attention paid, of course, to the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the telecom industry.

UPDATE: NARAL now says Verizon has reversed itself and allowed the short code. The group says 20,000 messages were sent to the company in two hours. Here is the letter from Verizon.

by James Oliphant

A new front could be opening in the abortion wars.

A federal judge says he will decide Monday whether to delay implementation of a new Missouri law that regulates abortion clinics set to go into effect next week.

The law heralds a new tactic from a state that has earned a reputation for pushing the limits on regulating abortion procedures. It would classify abortion clinics as outpatient surgery centers, requiring them to meet certain state health and safety standards to remain open.

Supporters of the law say it ensures the safety of the patients. Opponents, such as Planned Parenthood, say it will make abortions less available. Planned Parenthood insists it would have to close its clinic in Kansas City and renovate its clinic in Columbia, Mo., making St. Louis, for the time being, the only clinic in the state that could remain open.

Planned Parenthood argued Thursday for an injunction to block the law from taking effect. Missouri federal judge Ortrie Smith says he'll rule on the request by 5 p.m. Monday. (Smith was nominated to the federal bench by President Clinton in 1995.) If he doesn't side with Planned Parenthood, expect an immediate appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Some U.S. Supreme Court observers believe that last term's "partial-birth" abortion decision has dulled any interest in the justices taking another abortion controversy this coming term. But down the road they may not be able to dodge a decision on a new wrinkle like the Missouri law presents.

by David Lightman

Democrats want to change the nature of the debate on the most divisive domestic issue in America.

"For years the discussion has been around the legality of abortion," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut. She and Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat who opposes abortion, are "determined to get beyond that discourse and say, `How do you reduce the need for anybody to have an abortion?'"

The two teamed up this month to persuade the House to approve a $647 million measure called "Reducing the Need for Abortions Initiative." The measure represents a shift, one motivated as much by politics as philosophy.

Members of both parties have thought for some time that the fight over abortion has made it harder to enact broad family planning and pregnancy prevention programs.

And Democrats have been losing the abortion fight, at least at the margins, for some time.

by Mike Dorning

Barack Obama was the favorite presidential candidate in an Internet poll of supporters of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, an abortion rights group that also places a heavy emphasis on other reproductive health issues such as sex education and access to contraceptives.

Obama received votes from 42 percent of those who voted, besting rivals Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. Members of Planned Parenthood were invited to vote after Obama, Clinton and Edwards' wife Elizabeth spoke at a forum last Tuesday in Washington. The speeches were posted on the group's web site and members were allowed to vote through Friday, a spokeswoman said.

Obama's commitment to a robust sex education curriculum was highlighted by a minor controversy that erupted during the period of the Internet poll.

During his speech at the Planned Parenthood forum, Obama made reference to a controversy during his 2004 Senate race in which Republican opponent Alan Keyes criticized him for supporting legislation mandating an expanding sex education curriculum in Illinois schools reaching down to kindergarten.

Obama reaffirmed his support for an "age-appropriate" sex education curriculum including kindergarten at the forum. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney picked up on the comment, blasting Obama for supporting any form of sex education at such a young age.

by Mike Dorning

Elizabeth Edwards promised this morning that her husband would promote a health plan that included coverage of abortions for all Americans.

Speaking on behalf of presidential candidate John Edwards at a candidates forum at a meeting of the abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Edwards promoted her husband's health care proposal as "a true universal health care plan" that would cover "all reproductive health services, including pregnancy termination," referring to abortion.

Later, in response to a question from the audience, Edwards said that the campaign's health care plan would permit Planned Parenthood clinics, which typically provide a range of reproductive health services including abortion, to expand around the country.

"You could expand your services," Edwards said. "You would be an eligible provider for all services you provide."

Posted by Frank James at 1:29 pm CDT

This is the day that abortion foes have long awaited and supporters have equally dreaded with the Supreme Court upholding the federal ban against partial-birth abortion in a five-to-four decision.

It’s the first time the court has voted to restrict a specific abortion procedure, one that is controversial but supported by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or ACOG.

Partial-birth abortion, incidentally, isn’t a medical term, which is part of the problem since ACOG says the federal law is so broad it could be interpreted to cover a majority of abortions in the second-trimester pregnancies.

The decision was of the sort that likely had many liberals in Washington pining for the good old days of the Rehnquist Court when, even though the court tilted conservative, they at least had a mostly reliable abortion-rights vote in retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Those days are clearly over.

Posted by Pete Souza at 4:35 pm CST

Bob Ritter, a pro choice advocate from suburban Washington, argues with pro lifers in front of the U.S. Supreme Court during the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 22, 2007. In a somewhat bizarre scene, Ritter was later asked by a police official to leave the premises because he had a pair of scissors in his back pocket; Ritter said he worked nearby and forgot that he had them.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who announced this weekend he is seeking the Repubican nomination for President, greets fellow pro-lifers. Chicago Tribune photos by Pete Souza.