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. hbe£irbi -an fa 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com AP PHOTO Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, greets Israeli National Security Chief Glora Elland at thelimeeting in Moscow yesterday. JASON Z. 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