Debate heats up over abortion litmus test for judicial nominees

Published: 2005-01-21

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As concern about present and future appointments to the Supreme Court and other federal courts nears fever pitch among organizations working to assure that Roe vs. Wade remains the law of the land, the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities is taking a more measured approach. "We're a church, not a political organization," said Gail Quinn, director of the bishops' pro-life secretariat. "We do not support or oppose nominees. That's not our role." The committee's contribution to the debate on court nominees began Jan. 6 with a letter from Baltimore Cardinal William H. Keeler, committee chairman, calling on the U.S. Senate to reject the view that "nominees who oppose the purposeful taking of innocent human life (are) somehow unfit for judicial office in the United States." The Catholic Church's right-to-life ethic "has profound consequences not only for abortion, but for many other areas of life, including the death penalty, the application of scientific research to human subjects, the right to adequate health care, and the role of the state in promoting the common good," he added.

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