Anti-abortionists Buoyed By New Allies in the White House

Abortion rights activists are afraid that the Bush administration is making a concerted attack on the right to abortion by exploring new ways to install anti-abortion judges and challenge existing rights through the courts.

Abortion is now likely to be a key issue in the elections throughout the US later this year.

Last week President Bush told a Republican fundraising lunch that it was important to get "good conservative judges appointed to the bench and approved by the United States Senate".

He added that it was important that Republicans were elected to the Senate "to make sure that the judges do what they're supposed to do".

The president was angered last month when the Senate judiciary committee rejected Charles Pickering as his choice for the fifth circuit court, which covers Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. As a Mississippi state legislator, Mr Pickering had led Republican party efforts to introduce a constitutional amendment banning abortion.

The National Abortion Rights Action League (Naral) has told its supporters that the changed political climate since the Clinton years could roll back years of abortion reform.

"Bush opposes the right to choose and John Ashcroft [the attorney general] has a lifelong record of opposition to the right to choose, so we are very concerned," William Lutz of Naral said. "We're watching the judicial pipeline like a hawk."

A single new appointment to the finely balanced supreme court could result in it overturning the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, which established the right to an abortion.

The biggest US anti-abortion group, the National Right to Life Campaign (NRLC), has hailed Mr Bush as a champion of their cause.

Its political action director, Caril Tobias, said: "I have no doubt we're going to win. Young people are turning to us and we know there will be new troops. We are committed to saving the babies."

She said the difference between Mr Bush and Mr Clinton was highly significant. "I don't think there's any way to measure the value of having them [Bush and Ashcroft] in charge."

In the coming elections, she said: "Certainly abortion is going to be an issue."

Abortion as a political issue still divides the country. While President Bush enjoys an 80% approval rating, the support for his position on abortion is less than 50%.

In an election year, with governorships at stake in more than 30 states, the issue is already prominent. Because governors appoint judges they can have a big impact on rulings on the legality of abortion.

The povision for abortion varies widely from state to state. California, Washington and New York, for example, have a liberal provision, while in North Dakota there is only one place where abortions are performed.

Last month the Kansas state legislature voted to ask the state supreme court to declare that life begins at conception. Anti-abortionists hope this will lead to a ruling that a foetus has consititutional rights, which would make all abortion illegal in the state, regardless of the circumstances.

Currently 25 states fund abortion only for victims of rape or incest or those whose lives are endangered. In 2000, 21 governors signed anti-abortion legislation.