Kerry vows court picks to be abortion-rights supporters
By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 4/9/2003
ES MOINES - The potential retirement of Supreme Court justices makes the 2004 presidential election especially important for women, Senator John F. Kerry told a group of female Democrats yesterday, and he pledged that if elected president he would nominate to the high court only supporters of abortion rights under its Roe v. Wade decision.
The Massachusetts Democrat also said he would lift a ban imposed by President Bush on aid to overseas groups that provide abortion counseling or assistance in receiving an abortion.
In making his pledge about Supreme Court nominees, Kerry denied he was establishing his own litmus test, an accusation that congressional Democrats routinely level against Republicans who say they favor appointing only judges who oppose abortion. The difference, Kerry said, is that the Roe v. Wade has become settled law since the court rendered the decision in 1973 and now defines a constitutional right.
''Let me just say to you: That is not a litmus test,'' Kerry told about 85 women who turned out to listen to him over a continental breakfast in Des Moines. ''Any president ought to appoint people to the Supreme Court who understand the Constitution and its interpretation by the Supreme Court. In my judgment, it is and has been settled law that women, Americans, have a defined right of privacy and that the government does not make the decision with respect to choice. Individuals do.''
In an interview after the speech, Kerry added: ''Litmus tests are politically motivated tests; this is a constitutional right. I think people who go to the Supreme Court ought to interpret the Constitution as it is interpreted, and if they have another point of view, then they're not supporting the Constitution, which is what a judge does.''
He contrasted support for Roe v. Wade ''because it is a constitutional right'' with Republican demands that judicial nominees oppose abortion rights. ''They're trying to undo a constitutional right,'' he said. ''That's the difference.''
While raised a Roman Catholic, Kerry supports a woman's right to choose an abortion, even though the Catholic Church opposes it. As a senator, Kerry has generally supported judicial nominees who favor abortion rights, but he broke ranks with abortion rights supporters in 1986 when he voted to confirm Antonin Scalia, a staunch opponent of abortion, to the Supreme Court. Many abortion rights activists fear that if other abortion opponents are confirmed, Scalia could be part of a future majority on the nine-member court that overturns Roe v. Wade.
In his remarks to the Democratic women, Kerry echoed a warning about the president's ability to shape the Supreme Court that Democrat Al Gore made in his 2000 campaign. In coming years, Justices William Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Anthony M. Kennedy may step down from the Supreme Court, Kerry said. At least one retirement could come as early as this June, according to court observers.
If those retirements or other vacancies occur, the sitting president would have the ability to reshape the current 5-4, conservative-liberal split on the court.
During a question-and-answer session with the audience, a woman asked Kerry if he would lift the abortion gag order and appoint judges who uphold Roe, prompting his comments.
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