Tom Harkin: “I wish to express my concerns regarding the confirmation of Michael W. McConnell to serve on the United States 10th…”

“I wish to express my concerns regarding the confirmation of Michael W. McConnell to serve on the United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Of President George W. Bush's judicial nominees, Michael W. McConnell is the most hard-line, impassioned, and consistent public foe of a woman's right to choose yet to come before the Senate. His legal views and philosophy are far outside the American mainstream. This nomination passed out of the Judiciary Committee on November 14, and came before the full Senate on November 15. Given the lack of time to review Professor McConnell's record, an absence of recorded votes in opposition to this nominee should not be taken as a vote of confidence from all Senators. McConnell is a long-time anti-choice scholar and activist whose views on the constitutional right to privacy leave little doubt about how he would rule in cases involving the right to choose. He believes that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and that significant restrictions on abortion are appropriate, even while Roe stands. He has joined conservative political activists in calling for a constitutional amendment to ban all abortions, possibly even in cases of rape and incest. This issue of abortion is one in which thoughtful people of good conscience may disagree.”