PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, September 6, 2002

CONTACT:      Illinois Right to Life Committee
William Beckman, Executive Director, 312-422-9300
Mary Anne Hackett, President, 708-354-5373

Rejection of Owen nomination reflects pro-abortion litmus test

On September 5^th pro-abortion Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee voted down a second judicial nomination submitted by President Bush.  This unprecedented rejection of a well qualified woman candidate was based totally on a pro-abortion litmus test.  Judge Priscilla Owen, a Texas Supreme Court judge, was criticized for her rulings in favor of Texas' parental notification law.  Not only did she find that law constitutional, but she actually allowed parents to be notified before their minor daughters obtained abortions.  For this “radical” action, she was labelled an ideologue by Senator Patrick Leahy, Judiciary Committee Chairman.  Planned Parenthood said Owen had “an activist agenda,” even though they are the first to seek judges to rule in favor of their issues.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle commented, “The message is this: We will confirm qualified judges.  Don't send us unqualified people.”  However, this vote was the first time the committee has ever rejected an appeals court choice who was rated unanimously “well qualified” by the American Bar Association.  Clearly, qualifications are not relevant to Senator Daschle, only pro-abortion politics.

President Bush said the Senate Judiciary Committee's 10-9 party-line vote against Priscilla Owen was ``shameful'' and her rejection was evidence of a ``pattern of obstruction'' on his nominations in the Democrat-controlled Senate.  The vote against elevating Owen to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, ``is bad for the country, it's bad for our bench. I don't appreciate it one bit and neither do the American people,'' Bush said.

In March, the committee voted 10-9 against putting U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering of Mississippi on the 5th Circuit.  Both Pickering and Owen were expected to be confirmed if the full Senate was allowed to vote on their nominations.  The action of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee is a clear abuse of the nomination process and a raw exercise of power politics.

William Beckman
Executive Director
Illinois Right to Life Committee
65 E. Wacker Place, Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60601
312-422-930
illinoisrighttolife@ameritech.net

 

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Illinois Right to Life Committee, founded in 1968, is the oldest Pro-Life educational organization in Illinois.