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TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: As the final two days of the self-imposed crossover deadline begin, it's crunch time. You can tell from the lobbyists working the halls, either trying to get a bill to move or asking committee chairman to "pray on it" for a little while longer. And the controversial bills are coming the surface. A House committee will consider a bill to extend "protections of conscience" to more medical professionals and cover more things, such as providing contraception. In the same committee, another measure dubbed the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" is sure to recall attempts earlier this session to declare the state's ability to establish an official religion.

The full House - which convenes near 2 p.m. -- will also consider a bill to soften rules on where local governments must post public notices. A controversial amendment would tell newspapers how much they could charge for such advertisements. The Senate this afternoon will consider measures to amend environmental regulations and repeal local smoking bans. Gov. Pat McCrory is spending another day in New Orleans at a Republican Governor's Association event.

WOS ROADSHOW CONTINUES: A week after a major gaffe by Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos, her statewide tour to tout Medicaid reforms continues. She visits Durham on Wednesday where she will encounter members of the Medical Professionals for Expanded Health Access who expect to question her about the state's decision to reject a Medicaid expansion. Wos blamed Democratic Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin for the decision -- even though it was ultimately made by her boss, Gov. Pat McCrory. The event starts at 4 p.m.

***Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo -- a roundup of North Carolina political news and notes. Send tips to dome@newsobserver.com.***

To protest legislation tighten restrictions on abortions, a number of groups plan to hold what they are calling a “Not In Her Shoes Rally” behind the Legislative Building.

The groups plan will gather Wednesday at noon on the Halifax Mall and distribute shoes to local women's organizations to symbolize to political leaders that they should stay out of women's personal health decisions because they do not “walk in every woman's shoes.''

The really is being sponsored by women's health advocates, ACLU, Ipas, Lillian's List, NARAL, Pro-Choice NC, NC Now, NC Women Matter, NC Women United, Planned Parenthood Health Systems and Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina.

A bill was filed last week that would tighten restrictions on abortions by requiring that the doctor performing the operation be present for the entire procedure and remain at the site until the patient has recovered enough to leave. It would also require physicians that perform the abortions to have admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles of the places where the procedure is performed.

Last session, the legislature passed a law requiring women seeking abortions to submit to an ultrasound examination and be told what the ultrasound shows.

On Sunday, Dome reported some of the big corporate contributors to a national GOP group that helped finance N.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby’s re-election.

On the other side of the ledger, the first post-election federal report from the North Carolina liberal umbrella group Common Sense Matters has also been filed.

It reports spending about $774,000 on about a dozen campaigns, including that of Newby’s challenger, appellate Judge Sam Ervin IV, mostly on direct mail.

Its last-minute contributors include the Teamster’s DRIVE Committee, which gave $40,000 total for the year; N.C. Futures Action Fund (Democratic activist Dean Debnam’s project), $295,000 total; the N.C. League of Conservation Voters, $80,000, and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, $21,000.

The Republican State Leadership Committee, which spent $13.3 million nationally, sent $1 million to the effort to re-elect Newby.

Cecile Richards draws a distinct reaction from just about everyone interested enough in politics to recognize her name – either passionately supportive, like those in the crowd that greeted her in Raleigh on Thursday, or passionately the exact opposite.

Richards is president of Planned Parenthood, and she has taken a month away from work to campaign full-time on behalf of President Barack Obama.

The tift between lieutenant governor candidate Dan Forest and the State Employees Association of North Carolina continued Tuesday, when the union said members complained about receiving a fundraising email from him.

“It’s shameful that, in addition to Forest's agenda to deny thousands of women access to live-saving cancer screenings, he is wasting taxpayer dollars by sending emails to public employees, desperately asking for political donations ‘in any amount,’” SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope said in a statement emailed  to news organizations.

Planned Parenthood’s political arm is working the phones and sending out mailers urging the defeat of two freshmen Republican members of the state House: Rep. Tom Murry of Morrisville and Rep. Tim Moffitt of Asheville, among others.

Planned Parenthood of Central N.C. Action Fund, a political action committee, reports having spent $5,809 on the effort so far from late September to early October. The national political arm, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, last month sent $27,000 to help out in North Carolina.

Two Planned Parenthood political committees on Thursday gave their “strong endorsement” to Walter Dalton’s campaign for governor.

“The stakes have never been higher,” says a news release issued by Planned Parenthood Health Systems Action Fund and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of North Carolina, which are separate entities from the women’s health-care nonprofit organizations.

“There’s no question that last year’s legislative session was the worst on record for women’s health,” Melissa Reed, vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Health Systems Action Fund. “Given the legislature’s current leadership, we know women’s health will likely be their primary target once again in 2013. We need a governor who will stand strong for women’s health and that’s Walter Dalton.”

The smaller of two Planned Parenthood affiliates in North Carolina has managed to keep a Durham clinic open after the General Assembly stripped it of funding. By going directly to the feds for the money, Planned Parenthood of Central N.C. will get more than three times the money as it lost. Here's the deal.

The smaller of two Planned Parenthood affiliates in North Carolina has managed to keep a Durham clinic open after the General Assembly stripped it of funding. By going directly to the feds for the money, Planned Parenthood of Central N.C. will get more than three times the money as it lost. Here's the deal.

At a news conference in Durham on Wednesday, Democrats criticized the GOP-led legislature's defunding of Planned Parenthood, saying it leaves women with fewer healthcare options.

Reps. Deborah Ross of Raleigh and Jennifer Weiss of Cary were joined by Dr. Sharon Elliot-Bynum at CAARE Inc. in Durham.

"Women and families in the Triangle area rely on a network of care providers that includes clinics such as this one, community health centers, and organizations such as Planned Parenthood, for their preventive care,'' said Elliot-Bynum, executive director and co-founder of CAARE.