Dougherty Arts Center
Is Hutchison Really Pro-Choice?
RECEIVED Mon., Jan. 16, 2006
To the editor,
For many years, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has claimed to be pro-choice. If that's so, how can she support the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court?
Judge Alito is the one who wrote that the way to overturn Roe v. Wade is to chip away at it little by little. That's exactly the strategy the right wing is using and exactly the strategy Judge Alito himself has attempted to implement in the cases that have come before him as an appeals court judge.
In light of that, it's difficult to believe his assertion at the confirmation hearing that he would "keep an open mind" on abortion cases.
In the past, we've seen other extremist judges who try to appear moderate at their confirmation hearings. Once they get on the Supreme Court, though, they rule in exactly the right-wing way that their records would lead you to expect them to rule.
In spite of all this, Sen. Hutchison continues to support Alito's confirmation. Perhaps that would be understandable at some other time. But if Sandra Day O'Connor leaves the court and is replaced by an anti-choice judge, then the majority on the Supreme Court will be anti-choice. This is what the right wing has been working toward for years.
The question for Sen. Hutchison then, is, does it mean anything when she says she's pro-choice? Is it just words she says, or does she intend to protect the right to choose for women who may need to make that choice at some point in the future? Right now, her support for Judge Alito indicates that she does not intend to protect the right to choose.
For many years, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has claimed to be pro-choice. If that's so, how can she support the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court?
Judge Alito is the one who wrote that the way to overturn Roe v. Wade is to chip away at it little by little. That's exactly the strategy the right wing is using and exactly the strategy Judge Alito himself has attempted to implement in the cases that have come before him as an appeals court judge.
In light of that, it's difficult to believe his assertion at the confirmation hearing that he would "keep an open mind" on abortion cases.
In the past, we've seen other extremist judges who try to appear moderate at their confirmation hearings. Once they get on the Supreme Court, though, they rule in exactly the right-wing way that their records would lead you to expect them to rule.
In spite of all this, Sen. Hutchison continues to support Alito's confirmation. Perhaps that would be understandable at some other time. But if Sandra Day O'Connor leaves the court and is replaced by an anti-choice judge, then the majority on the Supreme Court will be anti-choice. This is what the right wing has been working toward for years.
The question for Sen. Hutchison then, is, does it mean anything when she says she's pro-choice? Is it just words she says, or does she intend to protect the right to choose for women who may need to make that choice at some point in the future? Right now, her support for Judge Alito indicates that she does not intend to protect the right to choose.
Margie Hammet
