South Bend mayor vetoes rezoning for anti-abortion group

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - South Bend's mayor has vetoed the rezoning of a lot that would have allowed an anti-abortion group to open next door to a proposed abortion clinic.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tah-juhj) said in letter Friday to the city's Common Council the neighborhood would not benefit from changing the zoning law "to place next door to each other two organizations with deep and opposite commitments on the most divisive social issue of our time."

The council voted 5-4 Monday to grant the rezoning sought by Women's Care Center so it could reopen next door to where Whole Woman's Health Alliance wants to open a non-surgical abortion clinic.

The Women's Care Center provides counseling against abortions. Texas-based Whole Woman's Health Alliance is appealing the Indiana State Health Department's rejection of an abortion clinic license.