Last week, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen to become a member of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,one of the most left-wing federal appeals courts in the nation.
The confirmation has President Barack Obama adding yet another pro-abortion judge to the nation’s judicial system. Although Christen had to wait months to be confirmed, she will now serve on a court that will decide pro-life legislation coming from Pacific Coast states — usually declaring it unconstitutional.
In May, the White House announced Obama had named Justice Morgan Christen to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. She has served as an Anchorage Superior Court Judge for seven years before pro-life former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin named her to the state Supreme Court — having to choose between two pro-abortion candidate given to her by a judicial selection panel.
When she submitted her application to become a state Supreme Court justice, Christen made no mention of the fact that she is a former board member of Planned Parenthood and served the pro-abortion group in the mid 1990s. Knowing that information, Jim Minnery, the director of the Alaska Family Council, a pro-life group, opposed her nomination because she would become “another activist on the Court.”
In his statement announcing Christen’s nomination, Obama said, “I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the United States Court of Appeals. I am confident Justice Morgan Christen will serve the American people with integrity and distinction.”
At the time of her nomination, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski told the Alaska Daily News that Obama’s selection of the abortion proponent is “an outstanding choice to fill Alaska’s sole seat on the 9th Circuit.”
“Over the course of a decade on the bench she has a track record of impartial, intelligent and fair judgments that demonstrate respect for the rule of law and the role of the judiciary in our democratic system,” Murkowski said. “She is a valuable asset to the Alaska legal community and I will support her wholeheartedly through the confirmation process.”
The Alaska Planned Parenthood organization on which Christen served has been a vocal opponent of pro-life legislation at the state capital — most notably opposing repeated attempts by state legislators to pass parental notification and consent legislation allowing parents to know when their minor daughter is considering an abortion and requiring Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion business, to obtain permission from the girl’s parents beforehand.
Last November, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest filed a lawsuit against the new law state voters passed in the primary election that requires abortion centers to notify the parents of a minor girl who wants to have an abortion. Voters approved the measure in August and the pro-life law that was slated to go into effect on December 14, but the abortion business is asking a judge to issue an injunction preventing that from happening.
With 84 percent of the vote counted, 70,503 Alaskans voted for Measure 2 while 56,354 voted against it. That had parental notification winning on a 55.5 to 44.4 percent margin. Alaskans for Parental Rights spearheaded the effort while the ACLU joined Planned Parenthood in opposing it.
“I think that Alaskan parents are concerned. They want to be there for their girls and they want to be there even when the going gets tough,” said Bernadette Wilson, campaign manager for Alaskans for Parental Rights after the vote. “And I think we sent the message loud and clear that we want to care for these girls, even those girls who come from unhealthy home environments.”
Just one day later, Alaska Planned Parenthood created a web site to push teens into abortions using the judicial bypass provision.
