Abortion Clinic Protests Still At the Center Of Debate

FOUR members of Congress from New York City are demanding increased federal funding to protect abortion providers and to investigate violent anti-abortion groups. ``Murder is murder, and violence is violence....'' says Rep. Nita Lowey, a Democrat who is co-chairwoman of the Congressional Women's Caucus. But the Roman Catholic Church's Cardinal John O'Connor of New York said Sunday he will not call for a moratorium on protests at abortion clinics unless there is also a moratorium on abortions. Receptionists at two abortion clinics in the Boston suburb of Brookline were shot to death on Dec. 30. Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston has called for a halt to clinic protests in response to the killings.

N.Y. terrorist trial

THE terrorist conspiracy trial of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and 11 of his followers - accused of plotting to bomb a series of New York landmarks - opened yesterday amid heavy security. The trial is linked to the World Trade Center bombing in February, 1993. The current trial is aimed at those who did not directly participate in the World Trade Center bombing but planned to take part in anti-US ``holy war'' attacks on other sites, including the United Nations and two tunnels and a bridge connecting the island of Manhattan to New Jersey. Potential jurors chosen from a pool of thousands must answer questions exposing opinions about religion, ethnicity, and the trade center blast.