Anti-abortion activists on Thursday declared victory after Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee unilaterally pushed Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation vote before the whole Senate.
Barrett’s confirmation, which is expected by a slim majority on Monday, is a “historic milestone for the pro-life movement,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Majorie Dannenfelser, noting that the move was a major step against the “extremism” of the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision. Barrett’s expected confirmation comes just days before the 2020 election and has made both abortion and the Supreme Court heated electoral issues.
Still, people involved with the campaign to get Barrett confirmed quickly said they were surprised at how civil the process was, at least in comparison to the drama surrounding the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh as the 2018 midterm elections loomed. Part of the reason for the change was that the coronavirus pandemic prevented protesters from storming Capitol Hill, but also that Barrett, unlike Kavanaugh, enjoyed support from the majority of voters.
The hearing itself was marked, at points, by comity between opposing Republicans and Democrats, despite bitter differences between the two parties on Barrett’s judicial philosophy. Notably, at the end of the hearings, Sen. Dianne Feinstein hugged Sen. Lindsey Graham and thanked him for the “fairness” that he had shown in allowing Democrats to grill Barrett. Feinstein faced some backlash from her colleagues, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, who, on Tuesday, hinted that he might remove her as ranking member on the committee.
Anti-abortion activists at a rally nearby the Supreme Court on Thursday praised Feinstein for her conduct, arguing that it was a testament to the quality of Barrett’s character. Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, the organization which also helped engineer the Kavanaugh nomination, compared the hearings favorably to the last Supreme Court fight.
“I’d join Sen. Feinstein in saying that that’s one of the best set of hearings that we’ve seen,” she said, pointing to Barrett’s popularity.
But at the same time, Severino warned, the seeming ease with which Republicans secured a definite conservative majority on the court signals that a loss of the Senate or the presidency will mean swift retribution for the Barrett victory. Warning of simmering threats to “pack the court,” Severino said that the conservative majority is not secure unless Republicans win in November.
“We have to bear in mind that this victory is not one that the left is going to leave standing if they can do anything to help that,” she said.
A Thursday Marist poll, commissioned by the Susan B. Anthony List, found that most people oppose the idea of adding more justices to the Supreme Court.
Despite accusations from anti-abortion groups, as well as other President Trump allies, Democratic messaging on adding justices to the court has not been clear. Former vice president Joe Biden has neither condemned nor accepted the idea in public. Biden on Thursday told CBS’ 60 Minutes that, if elected, he would appoint a commission to study court reform, which conceivably could include expansion.
Both abortion rights advocates and opponents signaled throughout the Barrett confirmation process that her confirmation, and a conservative super-majority on the court, endangers the status quo on national abortion legality.
