SAN FRANCISCO

Abortion opponents rally, march through downtown

Thousands of abortion opponents marched Saturday through downtown San Francisco for the 10th annual “Walk for Life West Coast.”

The protesters rallied at Civic Center Plaza in front of City Hall before marching down Market Street to Justin Herman Plaza. They held signs that read “Defend life” and “Women deserve better than abortion.”

Nancy Castellanos, a 17-year-old high school senior from Dixon, came to San Francisco with worshipers from St. Peter’s Catholic Church, which brought people on six buses. She believes the laws need to change to make it harder to get an abortion.

“I am 100 percent, completely against abortion,” she said. “If you don’t want the child there’s always adoption.”

On Wednesday, thousands of anti-abortion activists participated in the annual “Walk for Life” rally in Washington, D.C., to mark the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

Last year, California expanded abortion access with a measure that allows nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants to perform a type of early abortion.

PHOENIX

Republican Party censures McCain for being too liberal

The Arizona Republican Party formally censured Sen. John McCain on Saturday, citing a voting record they say is insufficiently conservative.

The resolution to censure McCain was approved by a voice-vote during a meeting of state committee members in Tempe, state party spokesman Tim Sifert said.

McCain isn’t up for re-election until 2016, when will turn 80. He announced in October that he was considering running for a sixth term.

According to the resolution, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee has campaigned as a conservative but has lent his support to issues “associated with liberal Democrats,” such as immigration reform and to funding Obamacare.

– From news service reports