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NWPC Featured Press Release
National Women's Political Caucus Votes to Oppose Roberts
National Executive Committee Unanimous in Decision
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Washington, DC.In light of recent documents released by the Reagan Presidential Library and previous Court of Appeals rulings, the NWPC Board has voted unanimously to oppose the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Although we would prefer to withhold judgment in this matter until after we have heard Alito's testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, we believe that there is clear and unambiguous evidence that Alito would not maintain the delicate balance that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor brings to the court.
He has plainly stated in writing that he believes the Constitution does not protect abortion rights and that expecting a woman to receive permission from her husband to obtain an abortion does not pose an undue burden. This is unacceptable.
As a nonpartisan organization, we attempt to follow a policy of reserving opinion on political and judicial appointments until hearings have commenced, as we did in the case of Chief Justice John Roberts' nomination. The Caucus did not oppose Roberts until he finished testifying.
We believe, however, that this nominee is different from Roberts. Alito comes with a longer and more detailed paper-trail then Roberts did. We felt that it was imperative for us to act without hesitation to rally our members and encourage them to lobby their Senators to reject this nominee. Reproductive rights hang in the balance and we cannot afford to wait and see.
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Articles on the Web
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Politics
Nov 17, 2005 Groups Supporting, Opposing Alito Nomination Launch Ad Campaigns Highlighting Abortion Issue A coalition of groups -- including some abortion-rights groups -- opposed to the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court on Thursday plan to launch a nationwide advertising campaign criticizing him for his past writings on abortion and other issues, CongressDaily reports. The...
Nov 17, 2005 Rep. Davis Warns of Backlash if Roe v. Wade Is Overturned By Dan Balz Reversal of the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide could produce an upheaval in U.S. politics and would put candidates who oppose abortion rights at risk of defeat in many parts of the country, a leading House Republican said yesterday....
Nov 17, 2005 House Considers Bill to Protect Identities of Women in Domestic Violence Shelters A bill to exempt domestic violence shelters from submitting personal information about their residents will go before the full House with a favorable recommendation from the Committee on Financial Services. Currently, the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) McKinney-Vento Act requires all...
Nov 16, 2005 Alito Distancing Himself From Views on Abortion in '85 Letter By Charles Babington and Dale Russakoff Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. sought to distance himself yesterday from staunchly conservative views he expressed 20 years ago, but some liberals and conservatives said they see the comments as the best indication yet of judicial philosophies...
Nov 14, 2005 Documents Reveal Alito's Abortion Views (AP) Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito wrote back in 1985 that he was proud of his Reagan-era work helping the government argue that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion," documents showed Monday. Alito, who was applying in 1985 to become deputy assistant attorney...
Nov 9, 2005 Alito Signals Reluctance to Overturn Roe v. Wade By Charles Babington and Michael A. Fletcher-- Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. has signaled he would be highly reluctant to overturn long-standing precedents such as the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling, a move that has helped to silence some of his critics and may resolve a key...
Nov 9, 2005 Texas Voters Approve Ban on Gay Marriage By DAVID CRARY-- Voters in Texas and Maine rendered a split verdict Tuesday on gay rights, while partial victory was the best California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could hope for in his power struggle with public-employee unions and Democratic legislators. Texas voters overwhelmingly approved...
Reproductive Choice
Nov 18, 2005 What Abortion Debate? Talking About Alito's Respect for Precedent Avoids the Real Questions By Michael Kinsley Op-Ed In a 1986 case called Bowers v. Hardwick , the Supreme Court ruled that state laws against homosexual sodomy do not violate the Constitution. In a 2003 case called Lawrence v. Texas , the...
Nov 17, 2005 Target's Pharmacist Refusal Policy WASHINGTON, DC - Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) today expressed outrage at the Target Corporation for misrepresenting Planned Parenthood and attempting to cover up a misguided corporate policy that denies women access to contraception. PPFA has urged Target to implement a policy...
Nov 16, 2005 House Democrats Question Former FDA Commissioner McClellan's Role In Plan B Decision; Rep. Waxman Calls for Hearings on Issue Eighteen Democratic House members on Monday sent a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt questioning former FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan's role in the agency's 2004 decision to reject Barr Laboratories' original application to allow nonprescription sales of the emergency contraceptive...
Nov 9, 2005 Abortion Fetus Pain Bill Passed in Wis. By JR ROSS MADISON, Wis. -- Doctors would have to tell women seeking abortions in their 20th week of pregnancy or later that their fetuses might feel pain _ an assertion debated in the medical community _ under a bill passed by Wisconsin lawmakers.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN
Nov 18, 2005 Japan Trying to Keep Women in Workforce TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan plans to toughen its gender equality law in an effort to encourage women to stay in the workforce as the population begins to shrink, a government official said on Friday. The Health and Welfare Ministry will propose an amendment to the 1986 law that would ban employers...
Nov 17, 2005 Young Female Immigrants in France at Risk "Women are double victims, of social and sexual discrimination as well as violence," said Fadela Amara, founder of "Ni Putes, Ni Soumises" (Neither a Whore nor a Submissive), a group fighting to improve the lot of Muslim women and girls in impoverished French neighborhoods.
Nov 14, 2005 President in Waiting Stays Cool in Liberia By Lane Hartil MONROVIA, Liberia, Nov. 13 -- Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the woman who is all but certain to become Liberia's next president and Africa's first elected female head of state, seems unfazed by her sudden fame and unruffled by her opponent's charges of fraud in last Tuesday's runoff...
** To JOIN the National Women's Political Caucus, visit our website at http://www.nwpc.org/ or call (202) 785-1100. **
***The National Women's Political Caucus is a multicultural, intergenerational, and multi-issue grassroots organization dedicated to increasing women's participation in the political process and creating a true women's political power base to achieve equality for all women. NWPC recruits, trains and supports pro-choice women candidates for elected and appointed offices at all levels of government regardless of party affiliation. In addition to financial donations, the Caucus offers campaign training for candidates and campaign managers, as well as technical assistance and advice. State and local chapters provide support to candidates running for all levels of office by helping raise money and providing crucial hands-on volunteer assistance.
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