The WAPO has unearthed some 1989 questionaires that Harriet Miers filled out during her campaign for the Dallas City Council. Her answers are at least extremely suggestive of her position on Roe at that time. She answered “yes” to the following questions posed by Texans United for Life:
If Congress passes a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution that would prohibit abortion except when it was necessary to prevent the death of the mother, would you actively support its ratification by the Texas Legislature?
If the Supreme Court returns to the States the right to restrict abortion, would you actively support legislation that would reinstate our 1973 abortion law that prohibited all abortions except those necessary to prevent the death of the mother?
Now, a lawyer can simultaneously believe that 1) abortion is a protected right under the constitution, and 2) the constitution should be amended to eliminate that right. But I am inclined to doubt that a lawyer who apparently couldn’t remember the significance of the Griswold decision this week had an opinion that nuanced.
I think these answers will eliminate any chance that Senate Democrats will support Miers, and thus will probably sink her nomination. While her statements will shore up support among conservatives who care only about whether Miers is a “reliable vote” on their favorite issue, thay will do nothing to change the minds of conservatives determined to see an excellent legal scholar on the bench.
Posted by Marie Gryphon on October 18, 2005