Planned Parenthood is flipping out over President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Bill Barr.
A conservative lawyer who also served under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Barr once stated that he believes the infamous abortion case Roe v. Wade will be overturned.
“I think that Roe v. Wade will ultimately be overturned,” Barr told CNN in 1992. “I think it’ll fall of its own weight. It does not have any constitutional underpinnings.”
The abortion giant Planned Parenthood attacked the statement on Twitter this week, ahead of Barr’s confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate.
“Barr wants to upend more than 45 years of Supreme Court precedent on abortion … so just how can we trust him to protect our rights? #StopBarr,” Planned Parenthood tweeted.
Next week, Trump’s AG nominee William Barr will have his confirmation hearing.
One major problem?
Barr wants to upend more than 45 years of Supreme Court precedent on abortion…so just how can we trust him to protect our rights? 🤔 #StopBarr https://t.co/Viv3f4nVTh
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) January 10, 2019
Planned Parenthood Generation Action, its arm targeting young adults, also went after Barr this week, claiming “we can’t trust” him because he opposes Roe. The 1973 case allowed abortion on demand and led to about 60 million unborn babies’ abortion deaths.
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Barr has made several similar statements about abortion in the past. During his Senate confirmation hearing in 1991, he said he did not agree with the Supreme Court on Roe, Fox News reports. Barr said Roe was wrongly decided, and abortion laws should be left up to the states, the LA Times reported at the time. Barr also said he does not think the right to privacy “extends to abortion.”
He told CNN in 1992 that he believed the high court also was wrong in its ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a decision that allowed abortion restrictions after viability but also upheld Roe.
“I think it’s significant that the three so-called moderate justices who were responsible for keeping [Roe] intact … did not so much defend the earlier opinion Roe v. Wade on the merits, on its constitutionality, but on the doctrine of stare decisis and that is the reluctance to overturn prior precedent,” Barr said. “I think they were wrong to do it, yes. I think they should have stuck with the Constitution.”
Trump nominated Barr in December, praising him as “one of the most respected jurists in the country.”
His confirmation seems likely in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate, though Democrats certainly will attack Barr’s opposition to Roe v. Wade.
The Daily Beast described Barr as “a conservative Republican known for a Reagan-esque tone and worldview.”
Pro-life conservative leader Gary Bauer agreed. The two have known each other since Barr worked for Reagan.
“He’s known for having a very dry sense of humor and unless you realize that, you might do a double take until you realize he’s joking with you,” Bauer said. “He’s a really good, nice guy the kind of guy that most people would enjoy spending time around.”
Pro-life U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, also expressed hope about Barr.
“I think he’d be an outstanding choice and is highly capable and highly respected, and should be easily confirmable,” Graham said.
ABA Journal reports Barr grew up in New York City and worked for the CIA while attending law school at night. He currently works at the international law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He has a wife and three daughters, and is an avid musician who plays the bagpipes.
