President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, added her name to a list of “citizens of Michiana” who signed a “right to life ad” sponsored by a group that opposes abortion that appeared in a local newspaper in 2006.
On the opposite page of the insert in the South Bend Tribune is an advertisement from the same group, the Saint Joseph County Right to Life, that called for putting “an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade and restore laws that protect the lives of unborn children.”
First reported Wednesday by the National Review, the ads are the clearest sign yet that Barrett may have questioned Roe v. Wade as a law professor before she took the bench. Her views on abortion rights are of immense speculation as she is set to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the court and could be a pivotal vote in potential challenges to Roe.
The full statement on the page where Barrett’s name appears reads, “We the following citizens of Michiana oppose abortion on demand and support the right to life from fertilization to a natural death.”
Liberals have been girding for a fight on abortion rights and will almost certainly raise this in opposition to her nomination.
During her confirmation for a seat on the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017, Barrett was asked by then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley when it was “proper for a judge to put their religious views above applying the law?”
“It is never appropriate for a judge to impose that judge’s personal convictions whether they derive from faith or anywhere else,” Barrett responded.
When asked for comment by CNN, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement, “As Judge Barrett said on the day she was nominated, ‘A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.’ “
Trump has said it is possible that Barrett, a conservative federal appeals court judge, could move to overturn Roe if confirmed but did not make a prediction as to whether she would. Democrats have based much of their opposition on the likelihood that Barrett would rule to limit abortion rights as well as undermine the Affordable Care Act.