Judge Amy Coney Barrett will become the first avowedly pro-life woman to reach the Supreme Court, shattering a glass ceiling for women and challenging the liberal orthodoxy on what beliefs women must hold, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday.
Kicking off a second day of questions for Judge Barrett, Mr. Graham said confirming her to the high court will show the country — and conservative women — that there’s “a seat at the table for them.”
“This is the first time in American history that we have nominated a woman who is unashamedly pro-life and embraces her faith without apology, and she’s going to the court — a seat at the table is waiting on you,” he told the judge.
During the first day’s questions, Judge Barrett faced stern questions, and some derision, from Democratic senators who questioned her signatures on pro-life petitions and letters while a law professor at the University of Notre Dame.
“I would suggest that we not pretend that we don’t know how this nominee views a woman’s right to choose and make her own health care decisions,” said Sen. Kamala D. Harris, Democrats’ vice presidential nominee and a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Graham on Wednesday, without naming specific names, said there’s “been an effort by some in the liberal world to marginalize” black and female conservatives, particularly pro-life ones.
But he said Judge Barrett has been candid about her own Catholic faith and past support for pro-life causes, while also showing she can approach the law as an independent jurist separate from those beliefs.
“So this hearing, to me, is an opportunity to not punch through a glass ceiling but a reinforced concrete barrier around conservative women. You are going to shatter that barrier,” Mr. Graham said.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, agreed the nomination was historic — but he said it was norm-shattering because of the speed Republicans were showing to rush Judge Barrett to the court.
Judge Barrett said on Tuesday that she had given no commitments to anyone on how she would vote on looming cases on election matters or health care.
Mr. Durbin said that may be true, but he still saw Mr. Trump’s machinations at work, or as he called it, “the orange cloud over your nomination.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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