National Right to Life President Carol Tobias was a guest of the White House during today’s announcement.

 

“We commend President Trump for his nomination of an impressively well-qualified judge to the Supreme Court,” said Tobias. “Judge Barrett has demonstrated a commitment to defending the text and history of the Constitution and the principles of judicial restraint.”

 

President Trump’s nominee stands in stark contrast with the judicial-legislative activists who would be nominated by Joe Biden. Joe Biden has promised to impose a litmus test of his nominees. During the Democratic presidential primary debates in February 2020, when asked if he would have a litmus test on abortion, Biden responded emphatically in the affirmative:

 

Yes, look. Here is the deal. A litmus test on abortion relates to the fundamental value of the Constitution. A woman does have a right to choose…If you call that a litmus test it is a litmus test.

 

In an interview with The New York Times editorial board in January 2020, Joe Biden was asked what he would look for in a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said:

 

They have to have an expansive view of the Constitution. Recognize the right to privacy, unenumerated rights that exist in the Constitution… that means I know they will in fact support Roe v. Wade.

 

“Joe Biden has made it clear that he requires a litmus test on abortion,” said Tobias.

 

Tobias continued, “Make no mistake—this confirmation battle will be over abortion because the Democratic Party and pro-abortion Democratic senators will oppose any nominee, no matter how qualified, if the nominee has not pledged in advance to uphold and maintain abortion on demand.”

 

In March 2020, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer stood outside the U.S. Supreme Court and made threatening remarks directed towards two sitting justices during oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court case June Medical Services v. Russo, a case involving a Louisiana abortion law that required hospital admitting requirements for abortionists. Senator Schumer said:

 

I want to tell you, Gorsuch; I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.

 

Chief Justice John Roberts subsequently issued an extraordinary public rebuke to Schumer, stating, “Statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous.”

 

“Democrats are prepared to engage in a scorched earth campaign in an effort to block an eminently qualified nominee,” said Tobias. “Shame on them. Shame on Democratic leaders in the Senate for their negative propaganda and for dragging candidates through the mud just so they can curry favor with pro-abortion groups.”

 

Judge Barrett earned her J.D. summa cum laude from Notre Dame Law School, where she was first in her class and received the Hoynes Prize, the law school’s highest honor. She clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Beginning in 2002, Barrett taught law at Notre Dame, and was named “Distinguished Professor of the Year” three times. In 2017, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She is married to Jesse Barrett, an Assistant United States Attorney. The couple has seven children.