"Pro-choice" Philadelphia may go "pro-life"

Philadelphia's status as a "pro-choice" city could come to an end today, just one week after a divided City Council bestowed the symbolic title on the city.

There will be at least one and possibly two votes in today's busy Council session attacking the abortion-rights designation, which was condemned last week by Cardinal Justin Rigali despite the fact that it augured no actual change in Philadelphia's public-health policy.

Sponsored by Democratic Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, the resolution states that Philadelphia supports "women's reproductive rights and freedom" and defends "the right to choose a legal and safe abortion as a final but critical option for women."