64% of U.S. Residents Want To Know Roberts' Views on Abortion Prior to ..

[struggle4progress]

.. to Supreme Court Confirmation, Poll Finds

26 Jul 2005





About 64% of US residents want to know Judge John Roberts' views on abortion prior to his confirmation as a Supreme Court justice, according to a... Washington Post/ABC News poll, the Washington Post reports. The survey of 500 U.S. adults, which was conducted on Thursday, also found that about 65% of respondents -- including 80% of Democrats, half of Republicans and two-thirds of independents surveyed -- would want Roberts to uphold Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that struck down state abortion bans. Approximately 58% of respondents said Roberts is "about right" in the political spectrum, while 26% said he is "too conservative" and 9% said he is not conservative enough (Morin/Babington, Washington Post, 7/23). About 61% of adults surveyed said Roberts should answer questions on how he would have ruled in past Supreme Court cases, which would allow senators to explore his stance on a variety of issues, including abortion rights (Reuters, 7/22). About 59% of respondents said they support Roberts' confirmation, while 23% oppose his confirmation and the remainder had no opinion. Among Democrats, 41% support his confirmation, compared to 84% of Republicans and 58% of independents. The poll had a margin of error of four percentage points (Washington Post, 7/23).
Little Known on Roberts' Abortion Views
Although little is known about Roberts' views on abortion, some observers say he could tip the balance of the Supreme Court on the issue because retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the deciding vote in several cases that upheld abortion rights. Roberts, who in 2003 was confirmed as a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, has never written a legal opinion on the issue as a judge. However, Roberts in 1991 while serving as deputy solicitor general argued in Rust v. Sullivan that federally funded family planning clinics should be banned from providing abortion-related counseling and said that Roe was "wrongly decided," did not have support "in the text, structure or history of the Constitution" and should be overturned. However, during his 2003 confirmation hearings for the federal judgeship, Roberts said he made the statements only as part of making a case for the administration and said the decision in Roe is "the settled law of the land." In addition, Roberts in 1992 -- while representing the antiabortion group Operation Rescue -- argued against preventing protesters from blocking entrances to abortion clinics (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 7/22). Several newspapers recently have examined Roberts' views on abortion. Some of these articles are summarized below. <snip>

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=28039

[warrens]

1. i wanna know why he lied about the Federalist Society

Everyone says he is a straight shooter and evidently he's a lying prick like the rest of the Bushies. If Smirkalicious likes him, he's bad news.

[deadparrot]

2. As the song says,

"you can't always get what you want."

Well done, America. In the coming weeks and months, you'll get to see the massive amount of damage you did in voting this fool back into office.

[babylonsister]

6. Roberts hasn't been confirmed nor questioned; do you

think it's that hopeless?

[deadparrot]

8. I make calls from what I see.

Things could change. Of course it's possible.

Right now, however, I don't like what I see.

[stepnw1f]

3. I A True Democracy This Poll Would Matter

And these right-wing nutters feared communism... hahahahahahahahah.

[babylonsister]

4. From Medical News Today - excellent!

Never heard of 'em, but the word is getting out that this guy is potentially very dangerous. :woohoo:

[DanCa]

5. How can any one that was for choice have voted for President Bush?

The way the Average American voters mind works both scares and fascinates me. Not I am Pro Neutral on this subject. As long as it's not over turned I want t o be left out of it all together.

[smiley_glad_hands]

7. Its not they way people vote that matters,

but who counts the votes.

[rocktivity]

9. I'm still waiting on him to deny he was a member of that organization

though his name appears on its 1997 steering committee list (link). If he won't, he's either a pathological liar or has memory deficiencies at the age of 50--neither of which qualify him to sit on ANY bench.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Daphne08]

10. Yes, and how long has it been since the Senate gave a

sh*t about what the American people think? :eyes:

[Samantha]

11. It is the same as the military's position on being gay or lesbian

Don't ask, don't tell.

[DeepModem Mom]

12. kick