Pro-life activists on Friday were elated not only that the U.S. Senate confirmed to the Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch, a mainstream judge with a record of adhering to the law and the Constitution.
They also were happy that the Democrat opponents to Gorsuch went all-in, forcing the GOP majority in the U.S. Senate to invoke the “nuclear option,” changing the threshold to end debate and move to an up-or-down vote from a 60-vote supermajority to a simple majority of 51.
Gorsuch is replacing the late Justice Antonin Scalia, regarded as an “originalist” who interpreted the Constitution according to the framer’s original intent.
But among the elder justices now on the court, any of whom could retire over the coming few years, are swing voter Anthony Kennedy and far-left icon Ruth Ginsburg, whose vote to create same-sex “marriage” two years ago was preceded by her performance of same-sex “weddings.”
Troy Newman, president of the pro-life Operation Rescue, was heartened by Gorsuch’s confirmation Friday.
But even better was the expenditure of effort by the Democrats.
“It certainly looks like they defeated themselves,” he told WND. “Number one, they made a political fight out of a judicial appointment.
“Then they forced the majority party to change the rules.”
It was not the first time the rules were changed. The Republicans this week simply did for Supreme Court justice votes what Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid had done for lower-court nominees in 2013.
“The Democrats had made Gorsuch to be the boogeyman, Hitler’s right-hand person,” Newman said. “They had to stand their ground.”
He quoted the admonition of the Bible: “Prides comes before the fall and a haughty spirit before destruction.”
“They were standing on a limb and they cut themselves off,” he said.
Now, another opening on the court could be filled by a conservative pick from President Trump with a simple series of GOP-only votes. The shoe would be on the other foot should ever there be a Democratic president and a Democratic majority in the Senate.
One of the big fears among the progressive political wing is that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that discovered a right to abortion in the Constitution, will be overturned.
In the majority opinion, Justice Harry Blackmun said the term “person” didn’t apply to the unborn, basing his conclusion on the medical knowledge at the time.
But even he warned that if the “personhood” of the unborn were to be established, “the fetus’ right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.”
That opinion has become the basis for the nationwide “personhood” movement, which seeks to define in law the unborn as a person.
Congratulations for Gorsuch on Friday came from President Trump, who said his judicial temperament is “exceptional intellect, unparalleled integrity, and record of independence.”
Pro-abortion forces were incensed, even though Gorsuch never has written specifically on abortion.
Vicki Saporta of the National Abortion Federation said she has “serious concerns that as a Supreme Court Justice, Gorsuch will continue his record of undermining reproductive freedom.”
“His hostility to Roe v. Wade poses a threat to women’s health and safety and women’s ability to access safe, legal abortion care.”
The 54-45 vote Friday included several Democrats.
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s successful use of the Reid Rule resulted in a huge defeat for the abortion lobby, observers said.
National Right to Life Senior Policy Adviser Douglas D. Johnson said: “For decades, liberal senators and interest groups had attacked Republican judicial nominees with procedural and political weapons that Republicans were slow to match. This week, the Republicans took decisive action to restore parity to the judicial confirmation process, and we commend them for it.”
National Right to Life President Carol Tobias said: “All too often, our efforts to protect unborn children and other vulnerable humans have been overridden by judges who believe they have a right to impose their own policy preferences. Judge Gorsuch appears to believe that judges are constrained to enforce the text and original intent of constitutional provisions, and on all other matters should defer to democratically elected lawmakers – this heartens us, and alarms those who have relied on activist judges to impose their radical pro-abortion policies.”
Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, said: “We were pleased to support Judge Gorsuch’s nomination, as were our grassroots activists from across America who sent thousands of messages to their senators in support of his nomination. We thank Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for remaining steadfast throughout this process and President Trump for keeping his promise to the American people in nominating a pro-life Justice to the Supreme Court. November exit polls showed that 1 in 5 Americans prioritized the Supreme Court nomination when casting their vote, and with a majority of 57 percent of those voters casting a vote for Donald Trump, it is clear that the majority of American voters wanted a strict constructionist.”
Penny Nance, CEO of Concerned Women for America, had this to say: “Today we witnessed a historic victory for our country. One that proves government ‘for the People, by the People’ is alive and well. The Senate overcame historic partisan obstructionism and restored original Senate precedent. … Judge Gorsuch follows the law wherever it leads, regardless of personal opinion or political preference. His constitutional jurisprudence makes him an ardent defender of the rights that keep us free.”
Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America called the confirmation a “huge win.”
“We look forward to the day when abortion on demand, in all nine months of pregnancy is no longer the law of the land.”
Said Marjorie Dannenfelser of the SBA List: “Pro-abortion ideologues, led by Senator Schumer, could not derail a nominee of Neil Gorsuch’s caliber. Their obstructionism will only hurt Democrats up for re-election in 2018.”
Gorsuch, while not ruling on abortion directly, has written on suicide and euthanasia, and the New York Times noted his Oxford dissertation defended the value of human life.
“He rejected the role of states in granting the terminally ill a right to die and offered a legal framework that could be applied to abortion,” a commentary warned.
His conclusion in “The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia” was that the Constitution requires banning doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia nationwide, with a few possible exceptions.
His opinion was similar to Blackmun’s forecast, concluding such state actions would violate the 14th Amendment.
The Amherstwire said that with two justices 80 years old or older on the bench, Gorsuch may not be President Trump’s only Supreme Court nomination.
“He could be merely the first domino to fall in a significant reshaping of the court in the coming years.”
The senior justices are Ginsburg at 84 and Kennedy at 80. Stephen Breyer is 78.
While Kennedy often is considered a swing vote, of late he’s voted repeatedly with progressives such as Ginsburg and Breyer.