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Vice President Harris said Monday that she “never believed” the testimony of Supreme Court Senate Judges Brett M. Cavanaugh and Neil M. Gorsuch, in which they stressed the importance of legal precedent in cases such as Rowe vs. Wadewhich establishes a constitutional right to abortion.
“I never trusted them. I didn’t believe them. That’s why I voted against them, “Harris told CNN in an interview.
Days after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 ruling, clearing the way for states to drastically reduce access to abortion or ban it outright, Harris declined to say whether he thought the judges had deliberately misled the public and Congress during the confirmation process. .
“Listen, it was clear to me when I sat in that chair as a member of the Senate Justice Committee that they were very likely to do what they had just done. That was my point of view. That was my opinion, “she added. “And that’s why I voted the way I did.”
Harris also referred to the agreed opinion of Judge Clarence Thomas, in which he called on the Supreme Court to reconsider cases concerning LGBTQ rights and contraception. “I definitely believe it’s not over. I do it. I think he just said the quiet part of the voice, “Harris said of Thomas.
What the conservative judges said about Rowe at their confirmation hearings
Cavanaugh, nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed in 2018 by 50 to 48 votes in the Senate, testifies that deer was “an important precedent of the Supreme Court, which has been confirmed many times.”
However, during oral litigation the case led to Roe’s annulling, he indicated that he would be prepared to repeal the “established law”, citing a list of “seriously wrong” Supreme Court decisions that were later overturned.
In Gorsuch’s confirmation hearing in 2017, he testified to this deer it was a “precedent for the US Supreme Court” and said it “would have come out the door” if Trump had asked him to overturn it because “judges don’t do that.”
Sensors Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.) said the two judges misrepresented Rowe in their testimony and private assurances during the nomination process. Collins said she felt misled after voting to confirm the judges, two of the three Trump nominees who gave the court a conservative majority of 6 to 3.
Susan Collins says Gorsuch, Cavanaugh’s testimony is “incompatible” with decision
Harris said the decision was overturned on Friday deer he left her “shocked” after learning of it while flying to Illinois for an event dedicated to his mother’s health.
“I couldn’t believe it because they really did,” she said. “The court actually took constitutional law, which has been recognized for half a century, and took it away from women in America – it’s shocking to think about.
As first woman vice president, Harris said the news affected her as a woman, mother, aunt and godmother, and she urged all Americans to consider the court’s decision. “When we think about it, everyone takes a risk,” she added.
The LGBTQ community is preparing for the abolition of rights after the abortion decision
Although Harris did not mention Judge Amy Connie Barrett in the interview, she attended Barrett’s confirmation hearings in 2020.
There Barrett was also asked about deer and testifies that it has undertaken to comply with ‘all the rules of star decisis’, the principle of respect for legal precedent in decision-making. “I promise to do this for any problem, abortion or anything else,” she added.
Collins told reporters during their hearings to confirm that Gorsuch and Cavanaugh had assured her that deer was “set as a precedent.”
Manchin, meanwhile, said in a statement: “I trusted Judge Gorsuch and Judge Cavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed that Rowe v. Wade was a legal precedent and I am concerned that they chose to reject the stability that the decision provides for two generations. of the Americans. “
Lawmakers such as Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (right), the Republic of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) and others spoke on June 26 about Rowe’s repeal. (Video: Ali Karen / Washington Post)
As for Thomas, he wrote that “in future cases we must reconsider all the precedents of this court on the merits, including Griswald, Lawrence and Obergefel.”
The 2015 Obergefel decision guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry, and Lawrence’s 2003 decision repealed a Texas law that criminalizes gay sex. Griswold’s 1965 decision forbade states from denying contraceptives to married couples.
“We have a duty to ‘correct the mistake found in these precedents,'” Thomas said.
Harris said the court’s decisions were driven by politics. “I think that’s why we all really need to understand the significance of what just happened. It’s deep. ”
President Biden called the court’s ruling a “tragic mistake” and called on voters to come in November to elect members of Congress who want to enshrine abortion protection in law.
Several liberal lawmakers, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) And Republican Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), have pointed to the possibility of Biden expanding access to abortion in federal states that ban it.
But Harris didn’t have much fun with the idea during his interview with CNN’s Dana Bash: “It’s not [something] right now as we discuss. “
Instead, she reiterated the importance of electing Democrats during interim terms, citing Senate races in Georgia, North Carolina and Colorado as opportunities for her party to win seats.
“We need to change the balance and have legislators supporting the election who have the power to decide whether this constitutional right will be in law,” she said.
Harris, who chairs the Senate as vice president, did not mention the possibility of eliminating the filibuster to codify abortion rights.
She said the administration would protect women’s ability to travel to other states for abortions, saying the matter was likely to go to court and that the administration would also “do everything” to ensure that women retain access to medical abortion pills.
Amy B Wang contributed to this report.
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