Pro-Life Group: Kennedy, Schumer Should Leave Supreme Court Battle 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 8, 2005
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A leading pro-life organization wants two top Democratic senators to recuse themselves from voting on President Bush’s upcoming Supreme Court nomination. The group says the senators are wrong to call on any nominee to state or he or she will rule on key political issues.
The Family Research Council is running radio ads in statewide in New York and regionally in Massachusetts starting on Monday.
"If a judge ruled in a case before hearing any of the evidence, she wouldn’t be much of a judge," the ad says. "But that’s what Sen. Charles Schumer wants the next member of the Supreme Court to do — declare in advance how he or she would rule on controversial cases before the Court."
Schumer has come under fire for a cell phone conversation he had on an Amtrak train the other day in which he reportedly said, "’We are contemplating how we are going to go to war over this," referring to the impending battle over a Supreme Court nominee.
"I would not hesitate to suggest that Senator Schumer should recuse himself from the confirmation process since he has obviously already made up his mind," FRC president Tony Perkins explained.
"Legislating from the bench is Senator Schumer’s objective. He will do whatever it takes, regardless of who the President nominates, to disrupt the judicial process," Perkins added.
The Kennedy ad chides the pro-abortion senator for saying that he will vote against any nominee who does not back the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. FRC calls that stance a litmus test and condemns it.
"And if a judge convicted a defendant who hadn’t been named yet, that would be just absurd. But Sen. Edward Kennedy is already declaring litmus tests for a judicial nominee who hasn’t even been selected," the FRC ad says.
Kennedy said this week that Senate Democrats "will oppose any nominee who doesn’t support individual rights," referring to abortion.
Related web sites:
Family Research Council – https://www.frc.org
