FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2014
[email protected]
Last night, the U.S. Senate adjourned for the year without advancing the controversial nomination of Michael Boggs to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. NARAL Pro-Choice America released the following statement from president Ilyse Hogue:
“The Senate adjourned last night without advancing Georgia judge Michael Boggs to a vote for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. Senators heard loud and clear the unified voices calling for a federal bench that puts constitutional rights above personal ideology. Boggs’ defeat is a victory for women, LGBT equality and racial justice. At a time where our rights are under fire in the courts, Americans will not accept the elevation of a nominee with a clear history of anti-choice bias as the price of a ‘deal’ struck to fill federal judicial vacancies.
“We commend the senators who worked alongside us to examine Michael Boggs’ record, and those who expressed concern, for standing in strong support of the right to choose. At a time when women face an avalanche of state laws restricting reproductive freedom, now more than ever the federal judiciary must safeguard our constitutional rights.”
Over his career, Michael Boggs developed a record of opposing reproductive freedom, LGBT equality and racial justice. Among the most troubling aspects of his record, Boggs:
- voted to publish online the names of abortion providers at time when clinic violence was at its peak;
- voted to keep the confederate flag – a powerful symbol of oppression – on Georgia’s state flag; and
- voted to amend the state constitution to exclude same-sex couples from marriage.
During the course of this tremendous campaign, more than 40,000 NARAL Pro-Choice America members, joined by more than 40 other progressive advocacy organizations and their own chorus of voices, called and emailed their senators. Our unified opposition resulted in 12 senators expressing serious reservations about Michael Boggs’ capacity to rule fairly and impartially on our civil rights and fundamental freedoms, effectively halting the progress of his nomination.
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