CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : 3 Republicans Back Abortion Funds

Three Republican lawmakers said they would oppose GOP efforts to slash state spending on abortions for poor women. State Sen. Rebecca Morgan of Los Altos Hills, along with Assemblyman Charles Quackenbush of Santa Clara and Escondido Assemblywoman Tricia Hunter, said it was illegal to cut funding for Medi-Cal abortions and costly to defend the action in court. Last year, the Legislature again defied the Supreme Court and refused to pay for Medi-Cal abortions unless the mother was a victim of rape or incest, her life was in danger, or the fetus was severely abnormal. A Republican anti-abortion bloc and a handful of Democrats have cut funding for Medi-Cal abortions every year since 1978, but the state Supreme Court has ordered the money restored each time.