|
(Continued from page 35)
selloffs as part of its 2010 EU-International Monetary Fund bailout.
• A "no" could do most damage to Ireland itself, because its existing loans will run dry by the end of 2013 -- and the treaty restricts future access to the EU's rescue fund to those nations that accept the new budget rules. But analysts agree it also would send political shockwaves across a eurozone already doubtful that it can confine its debt crisis to the three bailed-out countries of Ireland, Greece and Portugal.
• ___
House to vote on whether to make abortions based on gender of fetus illegal
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Legislation coming up for a House vote would make it a federal crime to carry out an abortion based on the gender of the fetus. The measure takes aim at the aborting of female fetuses, a practice more common to countries such India and China, where there is a strong preference for sons, but which is also thought to take place in this country.
• The mainly Republican supporters of the bill characterized the vote as a sex-discrimination issue at a time when Democrats are accusing Republicans of waging a war on women. Abortion rights advocates argued that the bill exploits the problem of selective abortion to further limit a woman's right to choose.
• The House Republican leadership brought the bill to the floor under a procedure requiring a two-thirds majority for passage, and the outcome was uncertain. To help assure passage, the authors removed a contentious provision of the bill that would have also banned abortions based on the race of the fetus.
• Even if it passes the House, the measure faces a dim future in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
• The legislation, sponsored by anti-abortion activist Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., would make it a federal offense, subject to up to five years in prison, to perform, solicit funds to perform or coerce a woman into a sex-selection abortion. Bringing a woman into the country to obtain such an abortion would also be punishable by up to five years in prison.
• ___
Shootings leave suspect, 5 victims dead in already jittery Seattle
• SEATTLE (AP) -- A city already anxious about a recent spate of shootings was rattled further when a man walked into an arts cafe near a Seattle university and (Continued on page 37)
|
|
