Abortion rights groups don’t just want President Trump’s Supreme Court pick to declare Roe v. Wade as “precedent” or “settled” law.
Groups said at a press conference Thursday that potential justices have been able to meet a new “personal liberty” standard. The groups repeatedly cite Trump’s statements on the campaign trail that he will appoint “pro-life” judges that overturn Roe V. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion a constitutional right.
Abortion rights groups say that terms like “precedent” don’t give enough of an insight into how a potential Supreme Court pick will rule if Roe gets challenged.
“[Recent Trump Supreme Court nominee] Neil Gorsuch said that Roe was precedent and just as recently as last month sided with [the] majority in turning over a 40-year-old precedent in [the] Janus case,” said Brian Fallon, executive director of Demand Justice, a liberal group that advocates for liberal-leaning federal judges.
The Janus v. AFSCME ruling prevented non-union workers from having to pay fees to public sector unions. The fees were approved in a 1977 ruling.
“Clearly saying precedent alone can no longer be an acceptable answer or standard by which senators can accurately judge [a nominee],” said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, at the press conference.
So, abortion rights groups are rolling out a new standard that they say any nominee should meet.
“We are calling for a personal liberty standard,” Laguens said. “The Senate must only confirm a justice who firmly declares that the constitution protects individual liberty and the right of all people to make personal decisions about their bodies and relationships, including the right to have contraception, the right to an abortion, and to marry the person who you choose.”
The call for a new standard is in response to Trump’s “litmus test” for judicial nominees, the groups say. Activists are also concerned that any nominee could potentially dismantle Obamacare. Trump has said that he will pick a nominee by July 9 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy from a list of 25 candidates culled by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society.
It is from this list that Gorsuch was chosen by Trump last year to replace deceased Justice Antonin Scalia.
The groups laid out their new standard with an eye towards GOP centrist senators who will be pivotal in confirming whoever Trump picks.
Currently, the GOP has a 51-49 majority in the Senate, but Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been recovering from brain cancer treatments. Republicans can still confirm a nominee with 50 votes as Vice President Pence can break a 50-50 tie.
But the GOP cannot afford any defections. Centrist Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has been a supporter of abortion rights and Obamacare. She recently said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that it was important that any justice meet recognize “stare decisis,” a legal doctrine that considers certain cases as settled precedents.
[Related: Susan Collins: There are people on Trump’s Supreme Court list ‘whom I could not support’]
But adhering to precedent isn’t enough for activists.
“These vague references have allowed people to actually not look deeply at what is at stake,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center on Thursday.
Abortion rights groups are also putting together a day of action in August to pressure senators in all 50 states to not confirm any judge that could roll back abortion rights or Obamacare.
NARAL Pro-Choice America and the National Asian Pacific Women’s Forum joined the other three groups at the press conference Thursday.
