(Roberts) Memo Cited 'Abortion Tragedy'

[kskiska]

Roberts Backed Service for Fetuses

Tuesday, August 16, 2005; A01

As a senior legal adviser to President Reagan, John G. Roberts Jr. concluded that a controversial memorial service for aborted fetuses, organized by a group of California doctors who opposed Roe v. Wade , was "an entirely appropriate means of calling attention to the abortion tragedy."

The words of the Supreme Court nominee, contained in a 1985 memo in which he approved a telegram from Reagan supporting the service, provide the clearest insight to date into Roberts's personal views on abortion at a time when both proponents and opponents of Roe have a keen interest in whether he would tip the court's balance on one of the nation's most volatile social issues.

Legal experts on the right and the left cautioned against interpreting Roberts's writing from that era as a certain predictor of how he would vote on abortion cases that might come before him today. Still, the memo, among 5,393 government documents released yesterday from the four years Roberts worked as associate White House counsel, is consistent with subtler clues to Roberts's stance on the landmark abortion case that have been emerging since his nomination by President Bush last month.

In 1981, while working at the Justice Department, Roberts had referred to the legal underpinnings of a woman's right to an abortion as the "so-called 'right to privacy.' " Later, as a deputy solicitor general in President George H.W. Bush's administration, Roberts would co-author an administration Supreme Court brief arguing that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overturned.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/15/AR2005081501603.html

[Massacure]

1. How is a memorial service for a aborted fetus different than a pet rat?

I don't get it. :shrug:

[MisterP]

6. 'coz rat brains aren't mush: fetuses have neither life experience nor, for

the first trimester, the capability for it--or pain, for that matter

[tk2kewl]

2. that is a well orchestrated statement

it doesn't say he is anti-choice directly and its hard to assail without seeming cold and callous, and it will boost the anti-choicers spirits

[spotbird]

10. Many people who support choice

call abortion a tragedy, heck sometimes the word choice is used interchangeably with the words abortion tragedy. This gives no insight into Roberts views at all.

[uppityperson]

3. thanks.

[Gloria]

4. Yeah, subtle alright....as subtle as a Mack truck....

screw him.

[AndyTiedye]

5. The Senate Should Get Deluged in Coathangers!

[BQueen]

7. I've hesitated mentioning this, cuz I can't remember

where I read it, but right after the announcement I remember reading about Roberts' tenure with the Solicitor General's office, and all his vaunted experience arguing USSCt cases.

One commentator mentioned that during an oral argument a justice asked Roberts if he was going to argue that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Roberts allegedly replied no, that the case had nothing to do with Roe v. Wade. Basically, the justice said, "That's never stopped you before!"

Does anyone know if there is a searchable database (or any database for that matter) for oral arguments before the USSCt? I wonder if they even bother with the majority of them, but the tapes could be available at the Library of Congress... (not that it would necessarily be worth all that work) But it might be truly illuminating to see what Roberts said in Court as opposed to what he was willing to put on paper -- and judicial chiding would also be an excellent indicator...

If there is a database, searching for his name as counsel and the phrase Roe v. Wade could prove interesting.

[fasttense]

8. So many men against a medical procedure they will never have to

undertake. Hmmm. Maybe the issue isn't so much about the medical procedure, maybe the issue is CONTROL. (sorry for shouting).

[enough]

9. kick

[wicket]

11. kick

:kick:

[Judi Lynn]

12. Roberts Once Wrote of 'Abortion Tragedy'

Roberts Once Wrote of 'Abortion Tragedy'

By PAULINE JELINEK
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 16, 2005; 1:02 PM



U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts
listens to reporters questions following his
meeting with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., on
Capitol Hill Thursday, July 28, 2005 in
Washington. Roberts once offered the National
Mining Association unpaid advice on how to
intervene in other people's court cases. Two
years later he was hired by the group. As a
government lawyer, private attorney and
federal appeals judge, Roberts has become
involved in environmental issues. His critics
say Roberts tended generally to side with the
views of industry. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez
Monsivais) (Pablo Martinez Monsivais - AP)

WASHINGTON -- As a young lawyer in the Reagan White House, Supreme Court nominee John Roberts concluded that a group's memorial service for aborted fetuses was "an entirely appropriate means of calling attention to the abortion tragedy."

Roberts' wrote the advice in an October, 1985 memo after he was asked to review a proposed telegram from President Reagan to the memorial service promoted by the California Pro Life Medical Association.

"The president's position is that the fetuses were human beings, or at least cannot be proven not to have been, and accordingly a memorial service would seem an entirely appropriate means of calling attention to the abortion tragedy," wrote Roberts.

Roberts, during his confirmation hearing to be a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, had referred to Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion in the United States, as "settled law." Senate Democrats have been aggressively seeking the nominee's innermost thoughts on the 1973 abortion ruling by the Supreme Court, and the documents released Tuesday shed more light on it.
(snip/...)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/16/AR2005081600454.html
(Free registration required)

[SteppingRazor]

13. I love this line...

"The president's position is that the fetuses were human beings, or at least cannot be proven not to have been..."

Proving a negative is, after all, such an easy thing to do. :eyes:

[Megahurtz]

14. Here he goes!

What the hell would he know about fetuses and abortion being that he is a man?

(No offense to men but sorry, it's true)

Yep, safe to say for you Buddy because you will never be having one!

Abortion Tragedy Yeah Right.:nopity: