Michelman Blasts Hypocrites On Alito Committee. 'Rhetoric is not enough.'

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Statement of Kate Michelman on Today's Senate Judiciary Committee Vote

1/24/2006 11:32:00 AM

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=59656

Contact: Jamie Shor, 202-628-7772

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a statement of Kate Michelman, author of With Liberty and Justice for All, and former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America:

"Today's vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee sets the stage for the next battle in the full Senate to protect a woman's constitutional right to choose. While not surprising, the vote illustrates the increasing ease with which politicians claim the pro-choice mantel, reap the political and electoral benefits, then abandon the issue when it comes time to take a stand.

"Committee Chair Arlen Specter has long touted his pro-choice stance, including in his run for the presidency, in an effort to differentiate himself from the right wing conservatives who control the Republican party. Indeed, after the election of 2004 as he was poised to take the chairmanship, he pronounced a woman's right to choose 'inviolate' and equated overturning Roe with overturning Brown v. Board of Education. Yet, even when Judge Alito -- in marked contrast with fellow conservative Justice Roberts -- refused to pronounce Roe as 'settled law,' Senator Specter gave him a pass, dismissing the right to choose as a 'single issue' not important enough to warrant his opposition. This is a blatant failure to live up to the principle of equal justice for women, a principle he claimed to embrace.

"I call on Democrats and moderate Republicans to defend and protect women's legal rights by rejecting this nomination. The pro-choice community and those who support it can no longer afford any more free passes. Rhetoric is not enough. The time for leadership and action is now.

"This is a watershed moment for the country, the Court and the future of our rights and liberties. If Judge Alito's troubling views on privacy, reproductive rights, and myriad other issues do not merit serious consideration of a filibuster, it's hard to imagine what might warrant such action."

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Kate Michelman is the author of With Liberty and Justice for All. She also served as President of NARAL Pro-Choice America from 1985-2004.

[mom cat]

1. So tell NARAL to send out another E-Mail to its supporters... I'm waiting!

We don't have till Christmas.