The Alito Is Pro-Abortion Myth

Some folks were out attacking Judge Alito as pro-abortion during the March for Life. In what was a very ineffective advertisement, a car drove by with a person hanging out a bumpersticker that said “Alito is pro-abortion,” most people probably missed it. After the march, someone handed me this article.

The author writes:

Not only has Alito repudiated his pro-life statements from the early 80′s as simply being things he said to obtain a job, and not only has he repeatedly stated that Roe v. Wade is decided law which needs to be respected, but he has also ruled on actual abortion cases and he has sided with the pro-abortion side!

In 1995, in the Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center for Women v. Knoll case, Alito ruled for federal funding of abortion for the poor who say they were pregnant by rape or incest.

In 2000, in the Planned Parenthood v. Farmer case, Alito ruled to strike down New Jersey’s partial-birth abortion ban.

Lets go ahead and break these things down one at a time. First, did Alito “repudiate” his 1980s abortion views as something he said to get a job?

No.

Judge Alito said in his confirmation hearings, January 10:

Well, there is, Senator. And what I said was that that was a true expression of my views at the time, the statement in the 1985 appointment form that I filled out. It was a statement that I made at a time when I was a line attorney in the Department of Justice.

I’m not saying that I made the statement simply because I was advocating the administration’s position. But that was the position that I held at the time. And that was the position of the administration…

And as I said yesterday, when someone becomes a judge, you really have to put aside the things that you did as a lawyer at prior points in your legal career and think about legal issues the way a judge thinks about legal issues.

This is hardly Repudation (defined as “To reject emphatically as unfounded, untrue, or unjust:”) but rather a recognition that he’s playing a different role and has to approach the issue from a different perspective, as a judge looking to see what the law says. He also was clear that these were his views, not something he said to get a job. Apparently Reverend Trewhella doesn’t mind playing fast and loose with the facts.

Now did Alito say abortion was decided law. Kind of. Here’s what Alito said during his Confirmation Hearing:

“Roe v. Wade is an important precedent of the Supreme Court that was decided in 1973,” Alito said, declining to answer the question directly.

So, yes he said abortion was “Decided” by the Supreme Court, he refused to say it was settled law which has been the big buzz word in Washington these days. Indeed, if Alito were to say the Supreme Court didn’t decide Roe v. Wade, I would find him unfit for office, not having the knowledge of proper legal precedents that had been issued by the court.

As to the cases, he decided, as a Circuit Judge his job was simple: apply the precedents as they are. If the Supreme Court’s ruled a Circuit Court Judge can’t just throw that out. I wrote about this back in November and Bryan Fischer had this fascinating quote on this that bears repeating:

We want our legislators to be pro-life, and our judges to be pro-law. We want judges who will say to us, “If you want a better ruling, bring me a better law.”

The issue of what exactly is to be done with abortion in America is properly the province of our elected representatives, not the province of judges who do not need to face their constituents and do not face the possibility of being voted out of office.

Andrea and I were walking home and she hit the nail on the head as well, “So, they’re upset because he refused to legislate from the bench the way they wanted.” That’s exactly what these folks are mad about, but I think at this hour what America needs are judges who will let the people work out these issues not force their agenda through the bench.

Alito, Abortion

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