ConfirmThem

By Marshall Manson Posted in Roberts — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

I thought many of our readers might be interested in statement below the fold from the liberal group People for the American Way. (And most will know that PFAW is one of the leaders of the Left's effort to derail Judge Roberts and any other conservative nominee that they can.)

The following statement was released today by People For the American Way:

After yesterday's bobbing and weaving from Chief Justice nominee John Roberts, you might think Roberts told senators that the Constitution protects rights Americans have come to expect -- reproductive choice for women, a right to privacy in our own bedrooms, and the right to make intensely personal medical decisions, such as refusing unwanted medical treatment, without government interference.

You'd be wrong. While Roberts said he believed in a right to privacy under the Constitution, he immediately added that every member of the Supreme Court does, "to some extent or another."

By saying that he believes in a constitutional right to privacy the way every member of the Court does, Roberts is essentially saying that he would provide virtually no real protection for the right to privacy. Every member of the Court, of course, includes Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. According to their view, any right to privacy does not encompass a woman's right to reproductive choice, and both have argued that Roe v. Wade should be overruled. According to their view, any right to privacy apparently does not include the right of consenting adults to be free from criminal prosecution for what they do in the privacy of their own bedrooms, as reflected in their dissents in Lawrence v. Texas. And according to Scalia's view, the right of privacy does not give even a fully competent adult the right to refuse unwanted medical treatment, as reflected in Scalia's opinion in Cruzan v. Missouri Dept. of Health.

To what extent does Roberts believe in a right to privacy? Beyond the right of married couples to use contraception, recognized in the Griswold decision, Roberts refused to divulge whether he believed a constitutional right to privacy included reproductive choice or end-of-life decisions. Right-wing leaders are apparently comfortable concluding that Roberts "provide(d a) basis for reversing Roe v. Wade," as one LifeNews headline put it. Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network reported that Roberts "may vote (to) overturn Roe v. Wade," and that "(p)ro-life groups were happy to hear" his answers on when it is appropriate to overturn settled law. According to a posting on confirmthem.com, a prominent anti-Roe attorney applauded Roberts' evasion, saying "Roberts' answer was carefully framed to provide a basis for revisiting and overturning Roe in the future."

"Judge Roberts' answer is too clever by half," said People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas. "With one breath, he gives false reassurance to Americans who are concerned that a Roberts Court would endanger privacy rights. With the next breath, he signals the far right wing that he could well join Scalia and Thomas in trying to take those rights away."

Neas said Roberts's comments are "eerily similar" to the words Clarence Thomas used 14 years ago to respond to the similar questions. A transcript of Roberts' answers on Tuesday and Thomas's answers from 1991 are below.