SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, has been meeting with senators ahead of her confirmation hearings later this month. (Photo: Caroline Brehman/Getty Images)
'Everything Is at Stake': Reproductive Rights Advocates Say Barrett Signing 'Extremist' Anti-Choice Ad Confirms Worst Fears
"Trump said he's only nominating justices who'll end Roe and criminalize abortion," says NARAL Pro-Choice America's president Ilyse Hogue. "We take him at his word."
Oct 01, 2020
Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's nominee to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, publicly supported a Christian fundamentalist organization espousing extreme anti-abortion views, The Guardian revealed Thursday.
In 2006, when Barrett was a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, she joined hundreds of Indiana and Michigan conservatives in signing a full-page newspaper ad sponsored by St. Joseph County Right to Life and published in the South Bend Tribune expressing strong opposition to the fundamental reproductive rights affirmed by the Supreme Court more than 47 years ago.
"We, the following citizens of Michiana, oppose abortion on demand and defend the right to life from fertilization to natural death," the letter states. "Please continue to pray to end abortion."
On a separate page in the same paper, the anti-choice group wrote that "it's time to put an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade and restore laws that protect the lives of unborn children."
Although polls show that most Americans want to keep abortion legal--with restrictions--conservative Christians, who believe life begins in the womb, overwhelmingly oppose the right to choose.
However, the beliefs espoused by St. Joseph County Right to Life are considered extreme even by the standards of the so-called pro-life movement. The group believes that life begins at fertilization, not at the point of embryonic implantation or fetal viability. This means that the group inherently opposes in vitro fertilization.
"Whether embryos are implanted in the woman and then selectively reduced or it's done in a petri dish and then discarded, you're still ending a new human life at that point and we do oppose that," Jackie Appleman, the group's executive director, told The Guardian.
Furthermore, Appleman said that "we support the criminalization of the doctors who perform abortions," although, "at this point we are not supportive of criminalizing the women."
"We would be supportive of criminalizing the discarding of frozen embryos or selective reduction through the IVF process," she added.
The letter Barrett signed does not mention criminalizing IVF or abortion doctors, and Ramesh Ponnuru noted in the right-wing National Review that she only signed the statement opposing on-demand abortion, not the page calling Roe v. Wade "barbaric."
Still, abortion advocates continue to express concern about what the addition of Barrett to an already conservative court will mean for reproductive rights.
"Trump said he's only nominating justices who'll end Roe and criminalize abortion. We take him at his word," tweeted NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue. "This nominee fits the bill. Everything is at stake."
Barrett has also come under fire for her other views on women, most notably for her membership in People of Praise, a conservative Catholic group which some former members have said expects females--who are excluded from some leadership roles--to be "absolutely obedient" to their husbands and other men.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's nominee to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, publicly supported a Christian fundamentalist organization espousing extreme anti-abortion views, The Guardian revealed Thursday.
In 2006, when Barrett was a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, she joined hundreds of Indiana and Michigan conservatives in signing a full-page newspaper ad sponsored by St. Joseph County Right to Life and published in the South Bend Tribune expressing strong opposition to the fundamental reproductive rights affirmed by the Supreme Court more than 47 years ago.
"We, the following citizens of Michiana, oppose abortion on demand and defend the right to life from fertilization to natural death," the letter states. "Please continue to pray to end abortion."
On a separate page in the same paper, the anti-choice group wrote that "it's time to put an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade and restore laws that protect the lives of unborn children."
Although polls show that most Americans want to keep abortion legal--with restrictions--conservative Christians, who believe life begins in the womb, overwhelmingly oppose the right to choose.
However, the beliefs espoused by St. Joseph County Right to Life are considered extreme even by the standards of the so-called pro-life movement. The group believes that life begins at fertilization, not at the point of embryonic implantation or fetal viability. This means that the group inherently opposes in vitro fertilization.
"Whether embryos are implanted in the woman and then selectively reduced or it's done in a petri dish and then discarded, you're still ending a new human life at that point and we do oppose that," Jackie Appleman, the group's executive director, told The Guardian.
Furthermore, Appleman said that "we support the criminalization of the doctors who perform abortions," although, "at this point we are not supportive of criminalizing the women."
"We would be supportive of criminalizing the discarding of frozen embryos or selective reduction through the IVF process," she added.
The letter Barrett signed does not mention criminalizing IVF or abortion doctors, and Ramesh Ponnuru noted in the right-wing National Review that she only signed the statement opposing on-demand abortion, not the page calling Roe v. Wade "barbaric."
Still, abortion advocates continue to express concern about what the addition of Barrett to an already conservative court will mean for reproductive rights.
"Trump said he's only nominating justices who'll end Roe and criminalize abortion. We take him at his word," tweeted NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue. "This nominee fits the bill. Everything is at stake."
Barrett has also come under fire for her other views on women, most notably for her membership in People of Praise, a conservative Catholic group which some former members have said expects females--who are excluded from some leadership roles--to be "absolutely obedient" to their husbands and other men.
Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's nominee to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, publicly supported a Christian fundamentalist organization espousing extreme anti-abortion views, The Guardian revealed Thursday.
In 2006, when Barrett was a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, she joined hundreds of Indiana and Michigan conservatives in signing a full-page newspaper ad sponsored by St. Joseph County Right to Life and published in the South Bend Tribune expressing strong opposition to the fundamental reproductive rights affirmed by the Supreme Court more than 47 years ago.
"We, the following citizens of Michiana, oppose abortion on demand and defend the right to life from fertilization to natural death," the letter states. "Please continue to pray to end abortion."
On a separate page in the same paper, the anti-choice group wrote that "it's time to put an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade and restore laws that protect the lives of unborn children."
Although polls show that most Americans want to keep abortion legal--with restrictions--conservative Christians, who believe life begins in the womb, overwhelmingly oppose the right to choose.
However, the beliefs espoused by St. Joseph County Right to Life are considered extreme even by the standards of the so-called pro-life movement. The group believes that life begins at fertilization, not at the point of embryonic implantation or fetal viability. This means that the group inherently opposes in vitro fertilization.
"Whether embryos are implanted in the woman and then selectively reduced or it's done in a petri dish and then discarded, you're still ending a new human life at that point and we do oppose that," Jackie Appleman, the group's executive director, told The Guardian.
Furthermore, Appleman said that "we support the criminalization of the doctors who perform abortions," although, "at this point we are not supportive of criminalizing the women."
"We would be supportive of criminalizing the discarding of frozen embryos or selective reduction through the IVF process," she added.
The letter Barrett signed does not mention criminalizing IVF or abortion doctors, and Ramesh Ponnuru noted in the right-wing National Review that she only signed the statement opposing on-demand abortion, not the page calling Roe v. Wade "barbaric."
Still, abortion advocates continue to express concern about what the addition of Barrett to an already conservative court will mean for reproductive rights.
"Trump said he's only nominating justices who'll end Roe and criminalize abortion. We take him at his word," tweeted NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue. "This nominee fits the bill. Everything is at stake."
Barrett has also come under fire for her other views on women, most notably for her membership in People of Praise, a conservative Catholic group which some former members have said expects females--who are excluded from some leadership roles--to be "absolutely obedient" to their husbands and other men.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.