American Notes

After a year of debate, Maryland Governor William D. Schaefer signed a bill last week that would protect a woman's right to have an abortion should the Supreme Court ever reverse its 1973 decision guaranteeing that right nationwide. The law allows abortion without restrictions up to the time a fetus is able to survive outside the womb; after that, an abortion can be performed only to protect a woman's health or when a fetus is deformed. While pro-choice advocates acclaimed the new law, antiabortion groups attacked it. "It will become the most liberal, the most extreme abortion law in the entire 50 states," said delegate Timothy Maloney.

In another move hailed as a gain for women's rights, Schaefer last week commuted the sentences of eight women convicted of killing or assaulting men who had battered them. In December, Ohio's outgoing Governor Richard F. Celeste granted clemency to 26 such women. Feminist groups are urging other Governors to take similar action.