Nah, there won’t be any abortion litmus test
A group of female Democratic senators said yesterday that they will vote against Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. unless he vows to uphold abortion rights.
Yesterday’s comments exceed previous posturing by Democrats calling on Judge Roberts to state his position on settled cases, a practice that previous high court nominees have avoided. They also come closer than ever to establishing a single-issue “litmus test” for his confirmation.
“Thousands of women a year died in back alleys,” Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, said of the days before Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established abortion rights.
“For more than 20 years, Sandra Day O’Connor has been an important vote in upholding Roe v. Wade,” she said. “Will Judge Roberts be that same important voice?”
Sean Rushton, director of the conservative Committee for Justice, groaned when he read the comments. “This is a single-issue litmus test that strikes at the heart of an independent judiciary,” he said. “It proves that the Democratic Party is increasingly focused solely on the issue of abortion on demand. Their greatest fear is a nonpolitical judge who will read the law as it’s written.”
This isn’t really surprising, but what was particularly, shall we say, striking was Senator Boxer’s statement that, “Thousands of women a year died in back alleys” pre-Roe v. Wade. I think I’ll be visiting Ms. Boxer’s site today to email her in order to find out where these ‘stats’ come from. I’ll let you know if I hear anything back.
See more at Captain Ed’s.