2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 19, 2006
NATION/WORLD
Supreme
Court defers
N.H. on
abortion law
Supreme Court rules in favor of
parental consent for abortion but
leaves issue open to scrutiny
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court gave
New Hampshire a chance to salvage its restrictions on
abortion yesterday, sidestepping for now an emotional
subject that is likely to be revisited when a new justice
joins the court.
New Hampshire's Victory may be short-lived because
the justices ordered a lower court to consider how to fix
problems with the 2003 law requiring a parent to be
told before a minor daughter ends her pregnancy.
The 9-0 decision reaffirmed that states, can require
parental involvement in abortion decisions and that
state restrictions must have an exception to protect the
mother's health. It also gave states new ammunition in
defending restrictions on the procedure.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the deci-
sion, most likely the final one of her 24-year career.
O'Connor, a key swing voter at the court on abortion
rights, capital punishment and other issues, is retiring
and will step down soon if the Senate confirms nomi-
nee Samuel Alito.
The ruling broke little new ground. However, jus-
tices said that lower courts in addressing flaws in abor-
tion laws do not have to take the "most blunt remedy,"
striking down an entire law. Instead, the justices said
that other "modest" options are available.
"In the case that is before us - the lower courts need
not have invalidated the law wholesale," O'Connor
wrote. "Only a few applications of New Hampshire's
parental notification statute would present a constitu-
tional problem."
New Hampshire is one of 44 states that require
parental notice or permission before abortions on
minors. The law, which says abortion providers must
Thousands still missing after Katrina
More than 3,200 people are officially still unaccounted for nearly five months
after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and the state medical examiner wants
the search to resume for those missing from the most devastated neighborhoods.
A total of nearly 11,500 people were reported missing to the Find Family National
Call Center, a center run by federal and state workers. The reports included people
from throughout the Gulf Coast area, but most were from Louisiana.
As of yesterday, all but about 3,200 had been located, the agency said.
Louis Cataldie, the state's medical examiner, said he planned to ask state and
parish officials to recheck about 400 addresses where authorities have consistent
information about people missing from badly flooded neighborhoods. Most are in
east New Orleans; about 50 are from St. Bernard Parish.
It's possible some of those missing were washed into Lake Pontchartrain, or
their bodies remain in the rubble that still blankets much of the city. Over the
last several weeks, at least one family returning to a wrecked home has found the
remains of a relative inside.
Some of those still listed as missing likely have been found already by relatives
but the center hasn't been notified of their status, the call center said. Others may
not want to be found because of criminal or legal problems.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
Storm postpones Pluto mission again
For the second day in a row yesterday, NASA scrubbed the launch of an
unmanned spacecraft on a nine-year voyage to Pluto - this time, because a storm
in Maryland knocked out the power at a laboratory that will operate the probe.
A decision on whether to attempt a launch today was expected late yesterday.
To High winds at the launch pad kept the New Horizons spacecraft from lifting
off a day earlier.
Scientists have been working 17 years on the mission, and they were unfazed by
- the back-to-back postponements.
he ."Two or three days doesn't mean a hill of beans," said Alan Stern, principal
investigator for the mission.
at A storm in Laurel, Md., knocked out power early yesterday at the John Hopkins
t- University Applied Physics Laboratory.
l- "The air conditioning was off. The flight controllers were sitting there wiping
k sweat," Stern said. "If they were dealing with any spacecraft issues, which first day
out of the box a lot of spacecraft have, you can't concentrate like that."
d BEIJING
ns More money goes to fight against bird flu
After a year of unprecedented appeals for money to cope with the Asian tsunami
and the South Asia earthquake, the world dug deeper yesterday, pledging $1.9 bil-
he lion to fight bird flu and prepare for a potential pandemic.
The United States alone came up with $334 million that will largely be used to help
poor countries in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, where the H5Nl bird
flu virus is endemic. The European Union pledged another $261 million, responding
with a renewed sense of urgency after the disease killed four children in Turkey.
"Nobody's wishing for more tragedies or more crises, but if the world has a bet-
ter ability to respond to those, I think that's a good thing," said Jim Adams, head
of the World Bank's bird flu task force, who said the $1.9 billion in pledges over
three years was a proactive step for the international aid community, which often
responds to major disasters after they happen.
WASHINGTON
0
Maria Gueco, left, and Maribel Santos join other anti-abortion advocates on the Capitol steps yesterday
in Olympia, Wash. during an annual rally protesting the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.
notify at least one parent 48 hours before performing
an abortion on a minor, had been challenged by abor-
tion clinics.
The Supreme Court agreed that the state law could
make it too hard for some minors to get an abortion,
because there is no special accommodation for some-
one who has a medical emergency.
Minnesota, Missouri, and Wyoming have abortion
laws with a similar problem, O'Connor said.
The case returns to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Boston, which had ruled that the law was
unconstitutional.
Civil rights groups predicted that the appeals court
would again strike down the law.
"It tells politicians that they must include protections
for women's health and safety when they pass abo
tion laws," said Jennifer Dalven, an attorney with th
American Civil Liberties Union.
Douglas Kmiec, a constitutional law professora
Pepperdine University, said "the state interest in limi
ing abortion received something significant" in the ru
ing. He predicted that courts will be less likely to bloc
entire abortion laws in the future.
New Chief Justice John Roberts had recommende
the narrow resolution when the court heard argument
on Nov. 30. As the court's leader, he assigned the opin
ion to O'Connor to write.
"We do not revisit our abortion precedents today,
O'Connor wrote in the opening of the decision, the
court's first abortion ruling since 2000.
0
Europe, U.S. reject
Iran's request for talks
Several European countries
refuse negotiations with Iran until
it halts all nuclear activities
PARIS (AP) - Europe, backed by the
United States, rejected Iran's request for
talks on its nuclear program yesterday,
cranking up international pressure on Teh-
ran to suspend uranium enrichment.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
said "there's not much to talk about" until
Iran halts nuclear activity. But Iran's presi-
dent accused the West of acting like the
"lord of the world" in denying his country
the peaceful use of the atom.
The quick dismissal of Iran's request for
a ministerial-level meeting with French,
British and German negotiators focused
attention on the next step: the U.S. and
European push to refer Iran to the U.N.
Security Council, which could impose
economic and political sanctions.
Russia and China, which have veto
power on the council, appeared to
remain the greatest obstacles. Both
nations are opposed to sanctioning a
country with which they have strong
economic and strategic ties. In recent
days, they have expressed reluctance
even to the idea of referral.
The national security adviser of Israel,
which strongly supports hauling Iran
before the Security Council, was in Mos-
cow yesterday to make his country's
case, as was the French foreign minister.
Tehran's ambassador to Russia urged the
Kremlin to resist what he called pressure
from other countries.
Even if there were consensus on sanc-
tions, the five permanent Security Council
members would be faced with a dilemma.
Placing an embargo on Iran's oil exports
would hurt Tehran, which earns most of its
revenues from energy sales, but also world
oil crude markets, spiking prices upward.
Europe halted talks after Iran resumed
uranium enrichment research this month.
The West fears the nuclear program will
lead to nuclear weapons, though Iran
insists it is only for civilian use.
"Iran must return to a complete sus-
pension of these activities," said French
Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simon-
neau. He said Iran's decision to resume the
research "means that it is not possible for
us to meet under satisfactory conditions to
pursue these discussions."
Simonneau said discussions are not pos-
sible either among ministers or "at the level
of civil servant" as long as Iran pursues
nuclear activities.
Energy prices rise as salaries level out
The average American worker got squeezed in 2005 between the biggest jump in
energy prices in 15 years and wages that failed to keep up with inflation.
As a result, hourly earnings after adjusting for inflation fell by 0.5 percent in
December compared to what workers were earning in December 2004, the Labor
Department reported yesterday.
Workers did see their wages rise last year. It was just that prices rose at a faster
pace - 3.4 percent for the 12 months ending in December, the department said.
- Compiled from Daily wire reports
CORRECTIONS
A story on the front page of yesterday's Daily (As Tulane reopens in New Orleans,
one student remains in Ann Arbor) LSA junior Walker Hines misidentified him as a
freshman. Hines was also not the only 'TIlane student to stay at the University.
Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com.
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AP PHOTO
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, greets Israeli National Security
Chief Glora Elland at thelimeeting in Moscow yesterday.
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