FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2017
[email protected]
In response to the Senate Judiciary Committee voting to move forward with the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement:
“A vote to advance Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination is a vote to shape our nation’s courts true to Donald Trump’s promise. Barrett’s anti-choice record is right in line with Trump’s disdain for women’s rights, and it’s part of the debt he owes the organized anti-choice movement that supported his campaign. Her advancement should be of great concern for anyone who believes in a truly independent judiciary, given her alignment with extreme, anti-choice organizations and her comments indicating her belief that Roe v. Wade was incorrectly decided.
“Like other Trump nominees, a lifetime of Amy Coney Barrett on the bench won’t help Americans—it will only help Donald Trump’s worldview thrive for generations to come. There is no understating the damage Donald Trump and Mike Pence can do to the future of reproductive freedom and progressive values through the court system. That’s why NARAL Pro-Choice America members are sounding the alarm on these terrifying nominees, handpicked by the anti-choice movement to turn our country back. Senators should reject this nominee if they truly believe in an independent judiciary and Americans’ constitutional rights.”
- Barrett has gone so far as to join forces with anti-choice and far-right leaders, including Susan B. Anthony List, March for Life, Family Research Council, Priests for Life, and Heartbeat International, in a letter that recognizes “life from conception.”
- Her writings indicate that she believes Roe was incorrectly decided, which should deeply concern the 7 in 10 Americans who support Roe v. Wade.
- During her nomination hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Barrett refused to claim it was a mistake to accept a speaking engagement sponsored by a radical anti-choice group that believes in the sterilization of trans people.
- Barrett joined other anti-choice individuals and spoke out against the ACA’s contraceptive-coverage policy, the single greatest advancement in reproductive healthcare in a generation.
- She has written favorably about how elected officials can show their disagreement with or even undermine court decisions that are pro-choice. In making this case, she pointed to how Congress passed an anti-choice abortion restriction to undermine the Supreme Court’s decision in Stenberg v. Carhart, which overturned a Nebraska law restricting a woman’s right to a late-term abortion.1
1. Amy Coney Barrett, Symposium: Stare Decisis and Nonjudicial Actors, Notre Dame Law Review 1147, 2008.
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”
###