A coalition of US women’s groups called on the CBS network to scrap its plan to broadcast an advertisement during the Super Bowl featuring college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, which critics said is likely to convey an anti-abortion message.

California’s Supreme Court has declared that gay couples in the US’s most populous state can marry – a monumental but perhaps short-lived victory for the gay rights movement that was greeted with tears, hugs, kisses and at least one instant proposal of matrimony.

Women seeking abortions in South Carolina would be required to view an ultrasound image of their foetus before the procedure under a proposal gaining support from lawmakers.