In brief: Sen. John McCain censured by Arizona GOP for liberal leanings

Phoenix – The Arizona Republican Party formally censured Sen. John McCain on Saturday, citing a voting record they say is insufficiently conservative.

The resolution to censure McCain was approved by a voice-vote during a meeting of state committee members in Tempe, state party spokesman Tim Sifert said.

Sifert said no further action was expected.

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers declined to comment on the censure. But former three-term Sen. Jon Kyl told the Arizona Republic that the move was “wacky.”

“I’ve gone to dozens of these meetings and every now and then some wacky resolution gets passed,” Kyl told the newspaper Saturday. “But most people realize it does not represent the majority of the vast numbers of Republicans.”

Kyl also said McCain’s voting record was “very conservative.”

Huge crowd protests abortions

San Francisco – Many thousands of anti-abortion protesters from across California marched through downtown San Francisco on Saturday, calling for restrictions on a medical procedure that was legalized more than 40 years ago.

A massive and diverse crowd of protesters rallied in front of City Hall before marching down Market Street to Justin Herman Plaza for the 10th annual “Walk for Life West Coast.” They chanted “Pro Life” and carried signs that read “Defend Life” and “Women deserve better than abortion.”

On Wednesday, thousands of abortion protesters participated in the annual Walk for Life rally in Washington, D.C. to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized the procedure.

San Francisco police did not immediately provide an official crowd estimate, but at one point marchers stretched across more than a mile of Market Street, the liberal city’s main thoroughfare.