The stay of execution came through late last Sunday evening.  A
district court judge issued an injunction that kept
Mississippi's last abortion clinic open, at least until a
hearing set down for the coming Wednesday.  You can imagine the
disappointment of the Governor, Phil Bryant, who has often
talked of his wish to see the state ''abortion-free'', whatever
the view of the Supreme Court of the United States in its 1973
Roe versus Wade decision.  In Ohio on Thursday, a pro-life group
called Personhood USA failed to secure enough signatures on a
petition to have a ballot that would see human life acknowledged
from the moment of conception included in the coming election.
This week's setbacks aside, the American pro-life movement has
been in fine form of late.  So far this year it has seen 38
provisions pass various state legislatures that in some way
restrict access to abortion.  Last year it secured 135
provisions in 36 states, up from 89 in 2010 and 77 in 2009.  For
the previous 35 or so years the number of