NATION IN BRIEF : GUAM : New Abortion Law Challenged in Court

Guam’s 2-day-old abortion law, the most restrictive in the nation, met its first court challenge as Janet Benshoof, an attorney and director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project in New York, pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of solicitation to commit abortion in Agana, capital of the U.S. territory. Meanwhile, Gov. Joseph Ada defended the legislation, which he signed Monday. “I still believe that a fetus is a human being and, therefore, as human beings, they have rights--civil rights,” the Republican governor said. The law allows abortion only if the pregnancy endangers the mother’s health or life. It makes it a felony to perform an abortion or aid in the procedure, a misdemeanor for a woman to solicit or have an abortion and a misdemeanor for a second party to solicit for abortion.