Miss. bans abortions, South Dakota follows
A state House committee voted to ban most abortions in Mississippi, which already has some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation.
The bill, approved by the House Public Health Committee on Tuesday, would allow abortion only to save the pregnant woman's life. It would make no exception in cases of rape or incest. The bill now goes to the full House, which could vote next week, and then to the Senate, The Washington Post said.
South Dakota lawmakers passed a similar bill last week that was intended to provoke a court showdown over the legality of abortion.
Pres. Bush predicts bin Laden's capture
President Bush, on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, vowed Wednesday to stand by the emerging democracy and not "cut and run" in the face of rising violence. He also predicted Osama bin Laden would be captured despite a five-year hunt, according to USA Today.
Bush pledged that bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, and other planners of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks would be caught.
"It's not a matter of if they're captured and brought to justice, it's when they're brought to justice," Bush said.
It was the first presidential visit to Afghanistan since the United States routed the Taliban and began thus far fruitless five-year search for bin laden in the region, said USA Today.
Bin Laden is believed to be hiding out somewhere along the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
