Mormons scale back Prop. 8 effort

SACRAMENTO, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Mormon Church officials are trimming their efforts on behalf of a ballot initiative to abolish same-sex marriage in California, a church spokeswoman said.

The church, headquartered in Salt Lake City, will continue to work on behalf of California's Proposition 8, but will stop making telephone calls from Utah to California voters, church spokeswoman Kim Farrah said in a news release.

The church has been a pre-eminent supporter of the ballot initiative and, at the request of the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign, its members have been phone banking from Utah to push for its passage Nov. 4, The Sacramento Bee reported Saturday.

"However, the church has since determined that such phone calls are best handled by those who are registered California voters," Farah said in the statement issued Friday.

A liberal group called the Courage Campaign said it will deliver a petition to a Mormon church in Los Angeles demanding the church stop providing financial support for the Yes on 8 campaign. Mormons are among the largest contributors to the campaign, the newspaper said.

The manager of the Yes on 8 campaign, Frank Schubert, said in a statement the ballot initiative would be defeated if the campaign does not raise $3 million during the coming week, the report said.