TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Abortion opponents marked the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision Tuesday with workshops, prayers and calls for more limits on the rights established by the Supreme Court in the landmark ruling that still defines one of the nation's most intractable debates.
Many in the anti-abortion movement looked to Kansas, where Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed a series of tough anti-abortion measures during his first two years in office. Other states with GOP governors and Republican-controlled legislatures have taken similar steps.
Abortion-rights groups observed a quieter anniversary — a possible reflection of the reality that it's far rarer for lawmakers to expand access to abortion. The National Organization for Women planned a candlelight vigil at the Supreme Court to commemorate the 1973 decision, which created a constitutional right to abortions in some circumstances and prevented states from banning the practice.
The ruling "should be honored," said Rep. Emily Perry, a lawyer and Democrat from the Kansas City suburb of Mission who supports abortion rights. "I wish the amount of energy put into narrowing Roe v. Wade would be put into school funding or our budget."
In Topeka, hundreds of abortion opponents gathered for a rally with Brownback, who has called on lawmakers to create "a culture of life." He is expected to support whatever further restrictions they approve.
Kansans for Life, the most influential of the state's anti-abortion groups, plans to ask lawmakers to enact legislation ensuring that the state doesn't finance abortions even indirectly, such as through tax breaks or by allowing doctors-in-training at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., to perform them on the center's time.
The group also wants to strengthen a state law dictating what information must be provided to abortion patients, banning abortions because of the fetus' gender and allowing wrongful-death lawsuits when a fetus dies because of an accident.
Comparable proposals are gaining ground elsewhere, too. Republican lawmakers in North Dakota are pursuing a measure to ban "sex selection" abortions. Alabama's GOP legislative majorities are looking to impose new health and safety regulations for abortion providers. And Republicans in Arkansas want to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.
"I think more of America is becoming more pro-life," said Dr. Melissa Colbern, who started a crisis pregnancy center in Topeka near the state Capitol last year. "I think maybe the culture is changing."
In the four decades since Roe v. Wade, a series of court decisions have narrowed its scope. With each decision, lawmakers in multiple states have followed up by making abortions more difficult to obtain or imposing restrictions on providers.
