Pro-Life Groups Back John Roberts Supreme Court Nomination 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 20, 2005
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Pro-life groups are strongly supporting President Bush’s nomination of appeals court judge John Roberts to be the first person confirmed to the Supreme Court in 11 years. They say he shares their pro-life values and his past actions indicate he is willing to fight the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized unlimited abortions.
Pro-life groups also said Roberts is the kind of judge who fulfills President Bush’s promise to appoint people who will not legislate from the bench, but will uphold the rule of law.
"Everything we know about Judge Roberts tells us that he fulfills the President’s promise to nominate a judge who will strictly interpret the Constitution and not legislate from the bench," Jan LaRue of Concerned Women for America, explained.
Jay Sekulow, lead counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a pro-life law firm, called Roberts "an exceptional choice who will bring sound legal reasoning to the Supreme Court."
"He was one of the most gifted advocates before the high court and … as a record of applying the law — not legislating from the bench," Sekulow said.
Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition, added, "We are believing that President Bush kept his campaign promise today when he nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court."
Combs encouraged pro-life advocates to get involved in fighting for Roberts’ confirmation in the Senate.
"Now that President Bush has nominated Judge Roberts to the Supreme Court, it is critical that pro-life and pro-family Americans speak up and have their voices heard in this process," Combs said.
Clarke Forsythe, an attorney at Americans United for Life, also heaped praise on Roberts.
"Judge Roberts is an experienced jurist with impeccable credentials who the President nominated to faithfully apply the Constitution," he explained. "Judges are not legislators. We all should appreciate the President’s determination to nominate someone he is confident will interpret the law rather than make it."
A former clerk of pro-life Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Roberts is also a former legal counsel to President Reagan.
As Principal Deputy Solicitor General during the first Bush administration, Roberts played an active role in efforts to limit abortion.
Roberts argued in a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court that "[w]e continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled. [T]he Court’s conclusion in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion … finds no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution."
In Rust v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court considered whether the Department of Health and Human Services could counsel women to have abortions. Roberts said regulations prohibiting that were constitutional.
Despite his views in legal briefs, Roberts has yet to rule on any abortion cases during his tenure on the bench.
