Bush Rallies The Anti-Abortion Troops

President Bush told abortion opponents Monday that they are pursuing "a noble cause" and making a real difference in the campaign to recruit more Americans to stand on their side.

"We're working to persuade more of our fellow Americans of the rightness of our cause," the president told abortion foes gathered at the foot of Capitol Hill on a chilly, rainy day. He spoke by telephone from Manhattan, Kan., where he was to give a speech on Iraq.

"This is a cause that appeals to the conscience of our citizens and is rooted in America's deepest principle," the president said. "And history tells us that with such a cause we will prevail."

Mr. Bush called for laws to change the culture of the U.S.

"Human life is a gift from our Creator, and should never used as a means to an end. We will not sanction the creation of life only to destroy it," he said.

Supporters of abortion rights held a rally on Sunday, marking the 33rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling, and urging the Senate to reject the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. They held a candlelight vigil in front of the court, waving signs that read: "Alito-No Justice For Women," and "Keep Abortion Legal."

Thousands of abortion opponents massed outside Minnesota's Capitol in one of several protests Sunday evening, amid heightened hopes and fears over what a new face on the Supreme Court will mean for abortion rights.

"As long as I am governor of the state of Minnesota, we will proclaim this day, Jan. 22, every year, as Sanctity of Human Life Day in Minnesota," said Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

A crowd of sign-wavers clad in parkas, winter boots and collars turned up against a cutting wind Sunday to call for a ban on public funding of abortion.

"We must stop abortion in our state," said Scott Fischbach, head of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. "Things are changing in this country."

"I feel more positive about the cause because of who we have elected to office," anti-abortion demonstrator Susanne Befort told CBS station WCCO-TV. "I think it really made a big deal who we vote for and I think with the election year coming up that people have to realize it does make a difference who is in office."

Many abortion opponents said they were heartened by President Bush's choice of Samuel Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate who was often the court's swing vote.

Alito, who appears to have solid support from the Senate's Republican majority, refused during his confirmation hearings to agree with assertions by Democrats that Roe v. Wade was "settled law," upsetting supporters of abortion rights and heartening opponents.

"We're happy with Judge Alito's selection," said anti-abortion demonstrator J.T. Finn in Los Angeles Sunday, where both sides held rallies. "We hope that he's sent to the Supreme Court right away. We would love to see others that would help to change the law."

"It's not fair for someone to implement their choices on us, to say we can't do what we want to do with out bodies," said abortion rights supporter Allyson Kennedy.

In San Francisco, thousands of abortion opponents shouldering signs with slogans such as "Peace Begins in the Womb" marched Saturday, while abortion rights supporters along the march route waved clothes hangers and shouted "Bigots go home."

"Abortion rights have been slowly whittled away while we haven't even been looking," said Kitty Striker, 22, who decorated her hair with small coat hanger replicas for the counter-protest. "That's what's so shocking and so scary to me."

Abortion protesters in Memphis marked from Central High School to the Planned Parenthood building Sunday, where they placed a wreath.

"Roe v Wade has also been a social failure because in its practice. Abortion is not health care," Kent Pruett of Citizens Concerned For Life told CBS affiliate WREG-TV. "Over 90 percent of abortions performed in this country are on healthy women and healthy babies."

In Idaho, nearly 400 abortion protesters marched at the Statehouse Saturday, including Reid Richardson and his 5-year-old stepdaughter, Allie Zebley, who carried sign with her ultrasound photo and the words, "This is me at 16 weeks."

About half that number gathered Sunday outside the Idaho Capitol in support of abortion rights.

"When American women are barred from accessing health services at the whim of a politician's religious beliefs, we are not in a democracy at all," said Bree Herndon-Michael, a member of the Idaho Women's Network.

Many who support abortion rights held a candlelight vigil in front of the Supreme Court Sunday night, waving signs that read: "Alito-No Justice For Women," and "Keep Abortion Legal."

The U.S. high court made abortion legal on Jan. 22, 1973. But efforts to restrict or outlaw the procedure have been just as enduring; 34 states have passed laws requiring parents either to be notified or to give consent when their underage daughters seek abortions.

This year, abortion foes in Minnesota will try to encourage the Legislature to ban public funding of abortions for Medicaid recipients, which has been required since a 1995 state Supreme Court decision. They are also campaigning against the re-election of a justice who supported the decision.