Dear Colleague:
Senate liberals continue to play politics with Samuel Alito's nomination,
even though Roe will still be safe with him on the court. But progress
for life will be made with Justice Alito nonetheless.
Steven W. Mosher
President
PRI Weekly Briefing
26 January 2006
Vol. 8 / No. 4
More Alito Games
By Joseph A. D'Agostino
Not content to go gently into that good night (instead running for
President again), Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.) wants to filibuster Judge
Samuel Alito's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. This quest seems
likely to fail, but the desperation of Alito's Senate opponents highlights
just how politicized the Supreme Court has become. Leftists' passion is
alight even though Roe v. Wade will be safe regardless, since five
remaining members of the court have clearly supported Roe in the past.
However, the replacement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with Alito will
almost certainly yield some results for the pro-life cause. As I have
written before, Alito is a solidly conservative jurist who believes in
interpreting the Constitution and the laws rather than making them up. We
can be as certain as reasonably possible, short of an outright promise,
that he will vote to overturn Roe-and had he promised to do so, he
couldn't make such a vote since he would never be confirmed by the Senate.
Alito's hearings should have heartened pro-lifers. He refused to call Roe
v. Wade "settled law," as now-Chief Justice John Roberts had done during
his own confirmation hearings, and consistently emphasized fidelity to the
text in constitutional interpretation. The Senate will vote to end debate
on Alito's nomination late Monday afternoon-this is when Kerry's effort
will or will not bear fruit-and then vote on Alito's nomination itself
either that evening or the next day. Those who live in
conservative-leaning states with Democratic senators such as Arkansas and
North Dakota should voice their opinions on how their senators should
vote, preferably by phoning their senators' offices (see the Senate's
website, www.senate.gov).
Based on his previous rulings and those of the remaining Supreme Court
justices, Alito's elevation will:
· Ban partial-birth abortion: The federal fight over this horrific
procedure began in 1995, and after President Bush came into office,
Congress both passed the ban and the President signed it. However, the
courts continue to prevent its enforcement. During a partial-birth
abortion, an unborn child, up to and including 9 months of age, is
delivered feet-first until only his head remains inside his mother's womb.
Then the abortionist, instead of simply completing the delivery, stabs
the baby in the head and vacuums out his brain. Since generally
pro-abortion Justice Anthony Kennedy dissented from the ruling striking
down a state partial-birth abortion ban in the past, it seems likely that
after more than a decade, this fight will finally be won. The victory
will be largely symbolic since other late-term abortion procedures will
remain legal, but symbolic victories lead to substantive ones.
· Uphold parental consent: It seems probable that Kennedy would vote to
uphold parental consent laws for girls having abortions, at least those
laws that allow exceptions to be made if asking her parents would not be
in her "best interest" as determined by a judge. Such laws are better
than nothing. Supreme Court precedent is muddled on this question.
· Promote free speech: Kennedy dissented from the 5-to-4 majority,
including O'Connor, that upheld the McCain-Feingold law's restrictions on
political speech. Such restrictions disproportionately harm pro-life
advocates, since media organizations are exempt from the law-and we know
which side of the abortion divide most media organizations are on. The
National Right to Life Committee fiercely contested the McCain-Feingold
law, which President Bush signed after promising not to.
· Enhance freedom of religion: Alito's record clearly shows great
deference to the free exercise of religion, whereas O'Connor's bizarre
vacillations between accommodating free exercise and prohibiting it have
led to 5-to-4 decisions that have made religious exercise jurisprudence an
ever greater mess than it was before she joined the court (and that's
saying a lot). Alito as justice will lead to a series of 5-to-4 decisions
favoring a restoration of some of the religious freedoms outlawed by the
courts, particularly those that prohibit a religious person from speaking
religiously because he is located in a public place. Since many
pro-lifers are religiously motivated to some extent, this will allow them
to communicate freely.
We pray for the day that Roe goes, but until then, we can still make
progress.
Joseph A. D'Agostino is Vice President for Communications at the
Population Research Institute.
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Media Contact: Joseph A. D'Agostino
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