As Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor made her initial round of "Hola's" this week, it became clear that she has been pressed hard by Democratic Senators on the abortion issue. After initially falling head over heels in love with her, pro-abortion members became aware of just how few times Sotomayor had actually had opportuities to vote on life issues. This realization put a slight flutter into the hearts of liberals.
But, alas, California Senator Dianne Feinstein got to the bottom of it when she met with the judge. Not that there is any sort of litmus testing going on here, but the subject did come up. As reported in USA Today...
"We had a conversation in general about that,” Feinstein said.
My bet is that it was the first question out of Feinstein's mouth as soon as the door closed behind them. And I bet it's more than 50% of what they discussed. Especially since abortion rights groups had begun feeling squeamish with the little they could find in Sotomayors rulings on abortion issues. The senator then went before the camera's and announced that everything was just fine. This nominee passes the test, she assured them.
"I think she is a woman who is well-steeped in the law and well-steeped in precedent," Feinstein explained. "And I believe that she has a real respect for precedent, and that she was not just saying that. And if that is really true, then I would agree with her. And I believe it is."
Pro-abortion folks are aware that Roe v. Wade was bad law. They know that it could be overturned if enough conservative judges ended up on the Supreme Court. They know that it hangs by a string called "precidence." This is a term that allows judges to use old rulings on similar cases to make decisions on new cases. In other words, it's easy to just say that Roe v. Wade is settled law and we don't want to go back and review it. After all, Sen. Feinstein, a Democrat, knows that if the court looked at the original case and determined that it was poorly written, there would be grounds to overturn it.
"I remember what it was like when abortion was illegal, and the lives of young desperate women were in jeopardy." She said she worries that "Americans no longer appreciate what it would mean if (abortion rights) were taken away."
Don't get me started on the lives of "young desperate women" being in jeopardy. This has nothing to do with that. Abortion remains a choice of convenience. Any young woman who chose to use a coat hanger to end the life of her fetus did so because she didn't want to be a mother, not because her life was in danger.
It will still be interesting to see how hard Sotomayor will be pressed on this in hearings. But for now, pro-choicers should be sleeping with one eye open.
No comments:
Post a Comment