High court refuses review of abortion funding curb

The Supreme Court has refused to reconsider its 5-to-4 decision in June upholding the constitutionality of the congressional Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding of abortions to cases in which a woman's life would be endangered by childbirth of in cases of promptly reported rape or incest. Nearly 300 civil rights and women's groups had asked the court to rconsider the decision, saying it created "a double standard of health care and separate constitutions -- one for the rich and one for the poor."