Pro-lifers, don’t fret yet: Chief Justice John Roberts did not necessarily indicate yesterday that he is comfortable with the Supreme Court’s existing pro-choice jurisprudence. Instead, he showed he was unwilling to overturn precedent on what amounts to a procedural ruling.

Headline writers yesterday focused on Roberts’ role in joining the court’s four liberal justices in issuing a stay, or temporary halt, to a Louisiana law imposing new regulations on abortion providers. The law would have forbidden doctors from performing abortions unless they held “admitting” privileges at a nearby hospital. Because only four abortionists currently practice in Louisiana, and only one has such admitting privileges, those challenging the law said it would place an “undue burden” on the ability of women to procure abortions.