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National Right to Life radio ad raises question:
How can Senator Durbin -- who as a congressman
wanted Roe v. Wade overturned -- now "disqualify" John Roberts?
This release from the National Right to Life Committee
(NRLC) is issued at 8:30 AM EDT on Monday, September 12, 2005.
For further information, contact NRLC at 202-626-8825
or 202-626-8820, send e-mail to
Legfederal@aol.com, or visit the NRLC website at
http://www.nrlc.org/Judicial/Durbin/index.html
WASHINGTON (Sept. 12, 2005) -- A new broadcast ad
sponsored by National Right to Life, launched today in eight cities
in Illinois (13 radio stations), suggests that Senator Dick Durbin
of Illinois, a Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, is being unfair in suggesting that Supreme Court nominee
John Roberts might be disqualified if Roberts does not accept the legal
theory of Roe v. Wade -- even though Durbin himself strongly
advocated overturning Roe v. Wade when he was a member of the House
of Representatives.
The script for the 60-second ad, titled
"Disqualified -- by Durbin?," is reproduced at the bottom of this
e-mail. An MP3 audio file of the ad can be played or downloaded at
the NRLC website here.
The ad presents a dialogue between two fictional
constituents, one of whom notes that Durbin has indicated that he
may regard Roberts as disqualified from sitting on the Supreme Court
if he will not endorse certain past Supreme Court decisions.
(In a
July 24 interview with NBC News' Tim Russert, Durbin said that
Roberts would be "disqualified" if he did not accept the Supreme
Court's doctrine on the "right of privacy," and that "it would
trouble me greatly" if he thought Roberts might allow state
legislatures to restrict abortion.)
The second constituent points out that Durbin
himself served as
master of ceremonies for annual pro-life rallies for five years,
endorsed legislation to allow abortion only to save a mother's
life, and called for the overturning of Roe v. Wade
as late as 1989 (after he had served in Congress for six years).
The first constituent, incredulous, then asks, "Durbin now says that
Roberts may be disqualified, because Durbin thinks Roberts might,
possibly, agree with part of the position that
Durbin himself used to strongly advocate?" In that case, Durbin
"needs a refresher course in Fairness 101," she concludes.
NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson
commented, "It is terribly unfair, if not brazenly hypocritical, for
Durbin to suggest that a Supreme Court nominee might be disqualified
for possibly agreeing with the legal position taken by the
Congressman Durbin of 1989."
National Right to Life has created a special page
on its website titled "The Durbin Abortion Papers," which includes
scans (in PDF format) of a selection of letters and candidate
questionnaires signed by Durbin, including one in which he
boasted of serving as master of ceremonies at pro-life rallies
at the Illinois State Capitol for five years, and another in which
he
pledged support for legislation to protect unborn children from
abortion except to save the life of the mother. "The Durbin Abortion
Papers" are here: http://www.nrlc.org/Judicial/Durbin/index.html
The page also links to a
transcript of the July 24, 2005 interview of Durbin by NBC News'
Tim Russert.
Johnson also noted that Senator Ted Kennedy
(D-Mass.), the second-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary
Committee,
wrote a letter about abortion in 1971 in which he said, " . . .
it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on
demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization
places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human
life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be
recognized -- the right to be born, the right to love, the right to
grow old. . . .once life has begun, no matter at what stage of
growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided
merely by desire. . . . When history looks back to this era it
should recognize this generation as one which cared about human
beings enough . . . to fulfill its responsibility to its children
from the very moment of conception."
Moreover, Senator Joseph Biden (D-De.), the
third-ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee,
voted in favor of a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v.
Wade (the Hatch Amendment) in 1982.
To read an earlier NRLC release about the
relationship of the Roberts nomination to two upcoming abortion
cases and to certain "media myths" about Roe v. Wade, click
here. To read the NRLC release issued upon the death of Chief
Justice William Rehnquist, click
here.
National Right to Life is the nation's major
pro-life organization, with affiliates in all 50 states.
[The ad script follows]
"Disqualified -- by Durbin?"
WOMAN: I read here in the paper about the Senate
holding hearings on the nominee to the Supreme Court. Our own
senator, Dick Durbin, has suggested that the nominee may be
disqualified if he does not support the legal theory of Roe v. Wade.
MAN: Oh yeah? Well, let me tell you, the guy
sitting there in those hearings served for five years as MASTER OF
CEREMONIES at the annual rallies at the State Capitol to protest Roe
v. Wade!
In 1983, he indicated abortion should never be
legal, except to save the mother's life. Six years later, he said,
"I continue to believe the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade
should be reversed."
WOMAN: (pleasantly) Really? I didn't KNOW that
John Roberts had said all those things!
MAN: It wasn't ROBERTS who said them. It was
DURBIN -- before he changed his position.
[very slight pause]
WOMAN: So you mean . . . Durbin now says that
Roberts may be disqualified, because Durbin thinks Roberts might,
possibly, agree with part of the position that Durbin himself used
to strongly advocate?
MAN: Yep.
WOMAN: Sounds like Dick Durbin needs a refresher
course in Fairness 101.
MAN: Call Senator Durbin at 202-224-2152 [in
Springfield, 217-492-4062] -- urge him to give John Roberts a fair
shake. This message brought to you by National Right to Life,
http://www.nrlc.org/.
***
To go to "The Durbin Abortion Papers," click
here.
To go to the main index on Judicial Nominations, click
here.
To go to the NRLC Home Page, click
here.
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