The Rule of Law Matters

Of Counsel, Fall 2005
Message from our President Nancy NorthupI spent early September in Washington intently listening to every word of John Roberts’ testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his nomination hearing for Chief Justice of the United States. Like others concerned about our constitutional rights and freedoms, I sought some insight into his overall judicial philosophy, his allegiance to precedent, and his capacity for open-mindedness. Could this man, who had served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General in an administration committed to overruling Roe v. Wade, give our clients a fair hearing?Lest I sound naïve, that is the question on my mind because, in fact, we win cases before conservative judges. That’s because courts provide a forum for us to establish facts and make reasoned arguments. And that’s because the rule of law matters. We saw this again and again in the emotionally charged battle with so-called “partial birth abortion” laws. In the last decade, over 50 state and federal judges struck down such laws, even before the Supreme Court held unconstitutional Nebraska’s ban in Stenberg v. Carhart (2000). As individuals, these judges represented a wide range of viewpoints. Some were nominated by Republicans, some by Democrats, and others ran in judicial elections. But uniformly, when they examined the facts, and when they evaluated those facts under the legal standard of Roe v. Wade and subsequent cases, they found the laws unconstitutional.And earlier this year, in Gonzales v. Carhart, we succeeded before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (two Republican appointees, one Democratic) in arguing that the 2003 federal abortion ban is unconstitutional for failing to protect women’s health. The Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to take the case. Should they do so, it will be heard by the Court’s two new members. If they follow the Court’s precedents, we should prevail. Since Roe, the high court has been consistent and clear: a woman’s health and safety must remain a doctor’s paramount concern.As we go to press, the Supreme Court has a new Chief Justice, the Senate is considering Justice O’Connor’s replacement, and the Court is preparing to hear arguments in its first abortion case in five years and considering whether to grant review in another. To return to my original question, we do not know how Chief Justice Roberts will apply precedents to reproductive rights cases in the years ahead.But we do know that with your support, the Center for Reproductive Rights will continue to expertly litigate our issues before the wide range of judges we have always been called upon to persuade.When the new members of the Supreme Court visit the issue of abortion in upcoming cases, we hope they do so with open minds, an understanding of the reality of women’s lives, a respect for the constitutional decisions on the right to privacy of the last four decades, and the Court’s opening words in Planned Parenthood v. Casey: “Liberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt.”Nancy Northup
President,
Center for Reproductive Rights
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