President Joe Biden nominated Julie Rikelman, who argued the case for the last Mississippi abortion clinic before the Supreme Court in the case that led to the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, for a position on the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.
The president’s nomination of Rikelman came during his 24th round of judicial nominees and nearly a month after the high court ruled to allow states the ability to impose laws severely limiting or restricting abortion access for women. Rikelman was the legal counsel for the Jackson Women’s Health Organization clinic that sought to challenge the state’s law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
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The president’s naming of Rikelman came along with one other nominee to an appeals court and seven other nominees to district courts, raising the total number of the president’s federal judicial nominees since taking office to 132.
Among the named candidates on Friday was Judge Daniel Calabretta, who, if confirmed, would be the first LGBT judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Biden has championed diversity as one of the highest priorities for his judicial selections, saying there is a need for the federal judiciary to resemble the different backgrounds represented in the United States.
Rikelman’s background is also noteworthy given the growing litigation challenges in state and federal courts since the June 24 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
As a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College, Rikelman serves as senior litigation director for the Center for Reproductive Rights.
“In addition to challenging bans and clinic closing laws around the country, Julie’s other litigation work at the Center has included leading the Center’s efforts against invasive ultrasound laws, fighting to preserve access to medication abortion, and defending the rights of young people in Florida and Alaska to make their own reproductive health decisions,” according to a biography from the center’s webpage.
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Biden’s judicial appointment process has been a race against the clock as the November midterm elections inch closer. If Republicans retake the Senate, they have the power to block Biden’s nominees from winning confirmation.
Rikelman’s nomination is a notable change of course from Biden’s previous plan to nominate an anti-abortion judge to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Last week, the White House confirmed the judge agreement between Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was no longer being considered, following outrage from the Left and objections from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) about the “secret deal.”
