mm 2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 6, 2003 NATION/WORLD Bush signs partial-birth' abortion ban NEWS IN BRIEF HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD A , WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi- dent Bush signed into law the most far-reaching abortion restrictions in three decades yesterday, an emo- tionally charged measure already challenged in three federal courts. A federal judge in Nebraska called the law "highly suspect" and issued a temporary order blocking it from applying to four abortion- rights doctors who filed suit. After years of frustration, legal setbacks and two presidential vetoes, hundreds of anti-abortion leaders rose in applause when Bush promised to vigorously defend the constitutionality of the law, known by its supporters as a "partial birth abortion" ban. "For years a terrible form of vio- lence has been directed against children who are inches from birth while the law looked the other way," Bush told religious leaders, mem- bers of Congress and other abortion foes at a signing ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building. "Today at last the American people and our government have confronted the violence and come to the defense of the innocent child." Abortion-rights groups said the Green Rive law was overly broad, lacked any exemption for the health of a woman seeking an abortion and could outlaw several safe and com- mon procedures. They also contended it was the first step in a larger campaign to ban all abortions for the first time since the Supreme Court's 1973 landmark decision legalizing the procedure. "This bill marks a concerted effort to set back decades of progress in achieving reproductive freedom," said Gloria Feldt, presi- dent of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which filed suit against the measure in San Francisco. The bill gave Bush a major victo- ry to show religious conservatives on the eve of a re-election year. But it also revived debate on a polarizing issue that could undercut his hopes of winning support from swing voters. The bill outlaws a procedure gen- erally performed in the second or third trimester in which a fetus is partially delivered before being killed, usually by having its skull punctured. r ler plea "For years a terrible form of violence has been directed against children who are inches from birth while the law looked the other way." - President Bush Former President Bill Clinton twice vetoed similar bills. While anti-abortion forces cheered their victory, arguments against the law were raised in court- rooms in Lincoln, Neb.; San Fran- cisco and New York. In Lincoln, U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf issued a temporary restraining order, citing concerns that the law lacked any health exception. "It seems to me the law is highly suspect, if not a per se violation of the Constitution," Kopf said. He said his order would apply only to the four doctors who filed the law- suit, but the ruling could extend beyond Nebraska because they are licensed in Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, New York, South Carolina and Virginia. In Manhattan, U.S. District Judge [dsgulty s l to Richard Casey appeared skeptical about arguments by Talcott Camp, a lawyer for the American Civil Lib- erties Union, which sought an order blocking enforcement. Casey did not issue an immediate order. "Doesn't the court have to give some deference to the findings of Congress that are spelled out in this statute?" Casey asked, noting the findings resulted from eight years of hearings. "They say there is no threat." About 30 states have enacted ver- sions of partial birth abortion bans but in many cases they have been overturned in court. The most important ruling was in 2000 when the Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote, said a Nebraska law was unconsti- tutional because it did not have an exception for the health of the mother and was too vague. 48 murders MOSUL, Iraq Bombs kill three, wound five in Ira Insurgents attacked three American military convoys in this northern city with rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs yesterday, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding five Americans, the U.S. military and hospital officials said. The attacks occurred in a city long considered relatively safe for US. troops, compared to Baghdad and the cities and towns in the "Sunni Trian- gle" to the south. Elsewhere, paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division captured two for- mer Iraqi army generals in Fallujah, the military said. The generals were not identified, but the military said they were suspected of financing and organizing anti-coalition fighters in the volatile city west of Baghdad. Guerrillas near Fallujah shot down a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter on Sunday, killing 15 soldiers in the bloodiest single strike against American forces since the war began March 20. No American soldiers were reported killed yesterday by hostile fire. But one 1st Armored Division soldier died of wounds from a "non-hostile gun- shot" at a checkpoint in Baghdad, the military said. RAMALLAH, West Bank Israel loosens West Bank travel restrictions Israel's Defense Ministry announced yesterday it is easing travel restrictions Minthe West Bank in an effort to strengthen Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, vwho remains stuck in a power struggle with Yasser Arafat. But Palestinians said the changes were largely cosmetic and brought no real relief. Defense officials said easing the lockdown was a gesture to Qureia, who is trying to form a new Cabinet, but remains at odds with Arafat over control of the Palestinian security forces. The officials said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz also wants to show progress to US. officials when he heads to Washington next week. The move comes a week after Israel's top soldier said the tough policy was coun- terproductive and was increasing Palestinian hatred toward Israel. Because hq is known as a hard-liner, the comments by the army chief, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, have resonated with the public and may have influenced Mofaz.,a Israel has maintained the restrictions, enforced for the past three years, are neces- SEATTLE (AP) - Uttering the word "guilty" 48 times with chilling calm, Gary Leon Ridgway admitted yesterday he is the Green River Killer and confessed to strangling four dozen women over two decades - "so many women I have a hard time keeping them straight." "Choking is what I did and I was pretty good at it," the 54-year-old former truck-factory employee said in papers submitted as part of his plea bargain. Ridgway, a short figure with glasses, thinning hair and a sandy mustache, pleaded guilty to more murders than any other serial killer in U.S. history. He struck a plea bargain that will spare him from execution for those killings and bring life in prison without parole for one of the most baffling and disturb- ing serial killer cases the nation has ever seen. For a half-hour, he listened in court with an utter lack of expression as his own accounting of how he picked up each victim and where he dumped the body was read aloud. In the most matter-of-fact way, he con- firmed the details, responding "yes" over and over in a clear but subdued voice. "I wanted to kill as many women as I thought were prostitutes as I possibly could," he said in a statement that was read aloud in court by a prosecutor and opened an extraordinary window on the twisted mind of a serial killer. He also said: "I killed so many women I have a hard time keeping them straight." He said he left some bodies in "clusters" and enjoyed driving by the sites afterward, thinking about what he had done. He said he sometimes stopped to have sex with the bodies. Victims' relatives wept quiet- ly in the courtroom. "It was hard to sit there and see him not show any feeling and not show any remorse," said Kathy Mills, whose daughter Opal was 16 when she vanished in 1982. Opal's body was found in the Green River three days later. Ridgway's lawyers said he was, in fact, sorry and will express that to the families at the sentencing, which will be held within six months. Defense attorney Tony Savage said Ridgway's emotions came "in pri- vate, in emotional ways, in tears and in words. ... He feels terrible remorse." "The Green River nightmare is over," King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng said after the proceeding. But Sheriff Dave Reichert - one of the first investi- gators on the case as a young detective - said that the investigation continues and that charges in more cases were possible. Under the plea bargain, Ridgway is not protected from the death penalty in other jurisdictions. He has not been charged elsewhere, but admitted dumping victims outside the county and in Oregon. Other serial killers have bragged of murdering many dozens of victims, but Ridgway's plea agreement, signed June 13, puts more murders on his record than any other serial killer in U.S. history. John Wayne Gacy, who preyed on men and boys in Chicago in the 1970s, was convicted of killing 33 peo- ple. Ted Bundy, whose killing started in Washington State, confessed to killing more than 30 women and girls but was convicted of murdering only three before he was executed. At a news conference, Maleng said his first reaction to striking a deal that would take the death penalty off the table was no: "If any case screams out for the death penalty, this was it." But he said he finally agreed to bring a resolution to dozens of unsolved Green River cases. Investiga- tors had evidence to pursue charges in seven cases but had exhausted their leads in the others, and the victims' families - including those whose loved ones had never even been found - deserved answers, Maleng said. AP PHOTO Gary Ridgway, left, listens as individual guilty pleas are read yesterday in the King County Courthouse in Seattle. Since signing off on the deal, Ridgway has worked with investigators to recover the remains of some victims. "Justice and mercy for the victims, the family and our coimunity, and that'is why we entered into this agreement," the prosecutor said. The Green River Killer's murderous frenzy began in the Seattle area 1982, targeting mainly runaways and prostitutes. sary to keep out Palestinian attackers. SEOUL, South Korea North Korean plant halts construction The United States and its key allies agreed yesterday to suspend construction of two nuclear power plants in North Korea, saying that the energy-starved communist state won't get them unless it gives up its nuclear weapons program. The move seems likely to kill the $4.6 billion power plants project, because the Bush administration oppos- es it and officials from the United States, South Korea, Japan and the European Union have agreed that a unanimous decision would be needed to resume construction. The Korean Peninsula Energy Devel- opment Organization, a U.S.-based con- sortium, has been building two light-water reactors as part of the 1994 accord between Washington and Pyongyang in which North Korea promised to freeze and eventually dis- mantle its suspected nuclear weapons development. MOGADISHU, Somalia Al-Qaida activity on the rise in Somia In lawless Mogadishu, where U.S. officials fear al-Qaida members are plotting their next attack, the word is out: catch a terrorist, collect rewards as high as $5 million. At least four al-Qaida terrorist sus- pects are in Somalia, Kenyan offi- cials and U.N. experts say, and Amjr- icans are trying to capture them ii a country without an effective cenral government for more than a decade, officials and gunmen told The Asso- ciated Press. U.S. agents are working through proxies and have recruited a network of informants who keep an eye out for suspected terrorists, according, to a Western security official and sever- al prominent Somalis, all speaking on condition of anonymity. NEW YORK Reagan supporters fight against CBS % In protesting "The Reagans," the miniseries that CBS decided to pull this week, supporters of the former presi- dent were defending not just a man, or a politician, but his principles. "This was a left-wing smear-of one of the nation's most -beloved presidents and CBS got cauglt," says Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative Media Research Cqp- ter, which had asked advertisers to consider boycotting the film. All modern presidents have their advocates, but Ronald Reagan's legacy is guarded with an intensity not seen among supporters of Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford. For many, Reagan personifies the conservative movement. 125th ums seasn F / . MAKE FRIENDS, LOSE SLEEP.. BECOME A DAILY STAFFER. CALL 763-2459 FOR MORE DETAILS.r - Compiled from Daily wire reports. U WWW.MICHIGANDAILY.COM The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by,> students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $105. Winter term (January through April) is $110, yearlong (September through April) is $190. UniversAy affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscrip: tions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. E-mail letters tothe editor to tetters@michigandaily.com. I r-J .1J .11.1m a.1.1, .WrI ms~eI .- -ItM I q $10 Rush Tickets on sale 9 am-5 pm the day of the performance or the Friday before a weekend event at the UMS Ticket Office, 50% Rush Tickets on sale beginning 90 minutes before the event at the performance hall Box Office. 4 45L ~~tt ~e~W m' ~ .v'.,.4 ~ 4.',,.. .'-4,, ~g'* ~ ~A, '*"', ~Am'.