Laura Bush Speaks Out on Abortion

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 19 -- On the eve of her move to the White House, first lady-in-waiting Laura Bush walked into a political minefield by saying the law legalizing abortion should not be overturned.

Asked on NBC's Today show if Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court's 1973 decision that recognized a woman's right to legalized abortion, should be overturned, Mrs. Bush said flatly, "No. I don't think it should be overturned."

Mrs. Bush said she favors measures that reduce the need for abortion, including abstinence education for young people "everywhere."

"I think that we should do what we can … to try to reduce the number of abortions in a lot of ways, and that is by talking about responsibility with girls and boys, by teaching abstinence, having abstinence classes everywhere in schools and in churches and in Sunday school," Mrs. Bush said in the Thursday interview. "I think there are a lot of ways we can reduce the number of abortions and I agree with my husband in that — on that issue."

President-elect Bush opposes abortion but has said he doesn't believe the nation is ready for Roe vs. Wade to be reversed. But asked Thursday in an interview with FOX News if he would rule out supporting a challenge to the ruling, Bush answered: "Not at all. We'd just have to see."

"I campaigned as a pro-life candidate," Bush also said. "I understand people disagree on this issue, but I think that it is very important for us to be conscious of the value of life."

The president-elect has said repeatedly that his judicial appointments would not be required to meet a "litmus test" on the abortion issue, but he has vowed to appoint only "strict constructionist" judges to the nation's highest court, citing conservatives Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas as model justices.

"I am going to put judges on the bench who will strictly interpret the Constitution," he said Thursday.

The incoming chief executive also supports a ban on late-term abortions and would require doctors to notify parents before performing abortions on teenagers.