Ruling opens abortion debate for '08

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The Supreme Court decision upholding a federal ban on partial-birth abortion predictably pleased the Republican presidential contenders and disappointed Democratic candidates.

To the Republicans it was "a step forward" and "correct"; to the Democrats it was "alarming" and a "dramatic departure." But partisans on both sides agreed the decision is the beginning, not the end, of the abortion debate in the 2008 campaign.

"This decision marks a dramatic departure from four decades of Supreme Court rulings that upheld a woman's right to choose and recognized the importance of women's health," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat and the perceived front-runner for Democrats' presidential nomination.

She had "warned of precisely this erosion of our constitutional rights" when she voted against both of President Bush's Supreme Court nominees, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

The Republicans, all of whom have said they would nominate judges like Justices Alito and Roberts, called the decision a victory for pro-life advocates.

"This decision represents a step forward in protecting the weakest and most innocent among us," said Republican Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts.

Abortion has been a defining issue for both political parties since the Supreme Court declared abortion a federal constitutional right.

Jim Backlin, vice president for legislative affairs at the Christian Coalition, said conservatives will focus next on the 2008 presidential race as the way to finish the job and finally overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The next president will likely pick the Supreme Court nominee who could tip the court their direction, he said.

"As soon as there is one more reliable [justice], that'll be five votes to overturn Roe," he said.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the decision vindicated the 2004 victory of Mr. Bush and "shows that elections have consequences." Since conservatives "know that next vacancy is just so incredibly important," Mr. Backlin said, they will work hard for almost any Republican presidential candidate, except Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York.