Democrat John Kerry was shifting his attention to women voters, underscoring his support for abortion rights days before tens of thousands of people stream into the nation's capital for a women's rights rally.
After three days spent discussing the environment, the Democratic presidential candidate scheduled a rally Friday with leaders of women's groups to compare his stand on abortion with what he says are President Bush's extreme anti-abortion positions.
A spokesman for Bush's re-election campaign declined to comment.
Kerry supports abortion rights and has said he would nominate only Supreme Court justices who support his position. Bush approves of abortion only in cases of rape or incest or when the pregnancy endangers a woman's life
Bush recently signed two pieces of legislation that have alarmed abortion rights advocates. The first bans the procedure that critics describe as "partial-birth" abortion; the second established new protections for the unborn by making it a separate crime to harm a fetus during an assault on the mother-to-be.
While abortion is a hot-button social issue that divides the electorate, it has not been front and center in the presidential race thus far. Kerry has added a line to his stump speech warning that expected openings on the Supreme Court in coming years could jeopardize the right to an abortion.
"If you need any motivation let me give you three little words - the Supreme Court," Kerry says at every stop.
Kerry's rally on Friday comes ahead of Sunday's march in Washington, organized by groups such as the National Organization for Women, NARAL Pro-choice America and the Planned Parenthood Federation.
After the rally, Kerry speaks and takes questions at the annual convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Bush addressed the group earlier in the week.
Focusing on abortion rights was a switch in message for Kerry, who spent much of the week attacking Bush's environmental record.
He capped that effort Thursday with an Earth Day speech in Houston, where he labeled Bush "the worst environmental president in history." Kerry also argued Bush hasn't done enough to drive down gasoline prices, and said consumers are paying billions of dollars more for fuel while the president is chummy with big oil producers.
In making that point, Kerry criticized a meeting in which, according to a broadcast report, Bush and Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan discussed increasing oil production to drive down prices as the Nov. 2 election nears.
"I don't know if it was a deal, I don't know if it was a secret pledge, I don't know if it was just a friendly conversation among friends," Kerry said. "The fact remains that whatever it was, the American people are getting a bad deal today."
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt rejected Kerry's assertion.
"John Kerry delivered a deliberately false attack today, the basis of which has been refuted," he said.
