Former Law Clerks Say Samuel Alito is Pro-Life on Abortion, No Activist

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 4, 2006   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Former Law Clerks Say Samuel Alito is Pro-Life on Abortion, No Activist Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 4, 2006

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Two former law clerks of federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito say the Supreme Court nominee is pro-life on the issue of abortion and that his values are in line with those of pro-life Americans.

Neither David Moore nor Jack White could predict how Alito would rule on a case to overturn Roe v. Wade, but both said Alito espouses judicially conservative values as opposed to judges who have been seen as activists on the court to expand legal abortions.

Moore and White said the national media is unfairly painting a picture of Alito as a judicial activist who disregards precedent.

Moore, a University of Kentucky law professor who clerked for Alito in 2001, said his views were in line with Arkansans who oppose abortion.

According to an Arkansas News Bureau report, he said Alito’s views were similar "at least to the fact Arkansans do not want judges creating new laws from the Constitution."

Moore also talked about a key decision abortion advocates are using to engender opposition to Alito’s nomination — his decision to uphold a Pennsylvania pro-life statute that, in part, allowed a husband to know when his wife was considering an abortion of their baby.

Pro-abortion groups claim Alito put his personal views against abortion ahead of good jurisprudence.

"I didn’t see his personal agenda being what drove him. I don’t know if he has one, or what it was when I clerked for him," Moore said. "That just was not something that motivated or drove his jurisprudence."

White, a San Francisco lawyer who was Alito’s law clerk in 2003-2004, said he has a positive judicial temperament.

"Judge Alito, in my limited experience, doesn’t believe the judiciary exists to legislate," he said, according to the ANB report.

The two law clerks were in Arkansas to discuss and promote his nomination there in a state where Alito backers are hoping to persuade Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor to support him. Both are considered possible votes in favor of the nomination.

Along with the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee, a pro-life group, the law clerks participated in a news conference at the state capitol and will travel on a 10 day, 36 city tour of the state to support Alito.

Progress for America, a national group that backs Alito’s nomination, organized the appearances with Moore and White.