Barack Obama May Have Two Supreme Court Picks Soon, Would Affect Abortion

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 4, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Barack Obama May Have Two Supreme Court Picks Soon, Would Affect Abortion

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 4
, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The main talk in the nation’s capital today is that President Barack Obama may have the chance to appoint two new Supreme Court justices soon. That’s because two of the members of the high court’s 5-4 pro-abortion majority are facing advancing age and health issues and may consider retirement.

Obama’s ability to appoint another pro-abortion stalwart to the high court after his naming Justice Sonia Sotomayor, would have the effect of further entrenching the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions.

Together they allowed for virtually unlimited abortions and have resulted in more than 52 million abortions in the decades following 1973.

Today, ABC News indicates top Obama administration attorneys are preparing background information on several potential nominees because they are expecting not one, but two retirements between now and when Obama runs for re-election in 2012.

Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, both strongly pro-abortion, are considered the most likely to step down from the Supreme Court in the next year or two.

Last week, during his State of the Union address, Obama criticized a recent Supreme Court decision that some pro-life attorneys and legal experts say could be used as a basis for overturning the 37-year-old pro-abortion precedent in Roe and Doe.

Stevens caused some court observers to take notice last year when he hadn’t hired a full complement of clerks for next term — but the justice was coy with the media and told reporters he was surprised that became a news story.

As far as Ginsburg is concerned, she underwent surgery for early stage pancreatic cancer a year ago but, ABC indicates sources closer to her say she has talked about serving on the court for years to come.

When the next high court justice does retire, Obama’s potential nominee will be scrutinized over their views and rulings on the issue of abortion. And some of the top potential candidates Obama could name are abortion advocates.

Elena Kagan, the president’s solicitor general, is an abortion advocates whom pro-life groups have already assailed.

"In the past Kagan has been a strong supporter of the pro-abortion agenda," Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the pro-life women’s group Susan B. Anthony List, told LifeNews.com previously. "She has vigorously opposed the de-funding of taxpayer-funded clinics which promote abortions, despite the fact that a majority of Americans do not want their tax dollars to fund abortion providers."

Judge Diane Wood, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, is a strong abortion advocate.

Wood ruled against bans on partial-birth abortion in cases involving legislation from Wisconsin and Illinois. She joined the federal court in ruling that Wisconsin’s law was unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s first ruling on partial-birth abortions in 2000.

Judge Wood also ruled in favor of abortion advocates by allowing them to misuse the RICO law designed to control mob activities to sue pro-life protesters.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is another potential appointee and she vetoed numerous pro-life bills when she was governor of Arizona.

Leah Ward Sears, former chief of the Georgia Supreme Court and Judge Merrick Garland, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit are other possibilities.

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