Planned Parenthood lies for political points

This isn’t mere political posturing, a slight bias, or half-truth in order to make a political point — this is a complete and unsubstantiated lie. First of all, I have no idea what “despite only having one case” means, frankly. I do know, Barrett was incredibly qualified for the position of federal judge, which is why the Committee secured her nomination following her hearing in September. Nominated to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, her qualifications were solid. She had been a professor at the Notre Dame Law School and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Second, it is true her religious beliefs came up repeatedly. Barrett is a devout Catholic and thus, despite her many career achievements, the committee repeatedly questioned that faith and ability to judge as a religious person. During this confirmation hearing is when Sen. Feinstein infamously quipped, “The dogma lives loudly within you,” prompting Catholics everywhere to chuckle and savvy manufacturers to sell t-shirts with the slogan as a compliment rather than a criticism. It’s a bit like telling Lutherans, “You could practically have nailed the 95 Theses on the wall yourself you’re so devout.”

During the hearing, Democrats pulled up previous statements and writings to prove their point that Barrett would make legal rulings based not on her legal knowledge and expertise but her firmly held religious beliefs. They brought up a 1998 paper Barrett wrote as a law student with John Garvey, who is now president of the Catholic University of America. In this paper, Barrett actually says the opposite of what Planned Parenthood is accusing her of doing:

In those rare cases when law and conscience do conflict, Barrett and Garvey argued in the paper, the most important thing is that “judges cannot — nor should they try to — align our legal system with the Church’s moral teaching whenever the two diverge.” Although some might be tempted “cheat,” as they put it — “to take charge of sentencing hearings and manipulate the law and evidence in order to save lives” — that betrays public trust. Occasionally, the federal recusal statute can help judges to avoid interfering with the law while still “[conforming] their own behavior to the Church’s standard.” Perhaps, they write, “their good example will have some effect.”

Not only was Barrett confirmed due to her impeccable qualifications, but her religious beliefs were not a deterrent. Her history indicated she was more than able to separate personal religious beliefs from legal rulings, and the Committee must have thought so as well as she was ultimately confirmed.

It’s one thing for Planned Parenthood to constantly harp on religious politicians, mothers, and other pro-life advocates — that’s to be expected. It’s another thing for them to completely propagate a lie — one which most people will be unable or unwilling to fact-check — in order to make an absurd political point.

Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She was the 2010 recipient of the American Spectator’s Young Journalist Award.

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