Groups focused on abortion quick to weigh in on Supreme Court nominee

Published: 2005-07-22

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Organizations with a main interest in abortion law and policy were among those to quickly weigh in on Judge John G. Roberts' suitability for serving on the U.S. Supreme Court. President George W. Bush July 19 nominated Roberts, 50, to fill the vacancy on the court created by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Clarke Forsythe of Americans United for Life, a public interest law firm specializing in abortion and other life issues, said Roberts is "an experienced jurist with impeccable credentials. ... Judges are not legislators. We should all appreciate the president's determination to nominate someone he is confident will interpret the law rather than make it." Forsythe said the Senate "should take care to only question Judge Roberts regarding his judicial philosophy rather than specific issues that would force him to recuse himself when those cases are brought before the court." A federal appeals court judge for the District of Columbia, Roberts is a Catholic who has represented both Bush and the Reagan administration in private practice and as a deputy U.S. solicitor general and as an aide to the attorney general and the White House counsel.

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