On Saturday afternoon, October 6, 2018, the Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Kavanaugh will take his seat when the Court opens for business on Tuesday, October 8th.
The final vote was 50-48. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine voted in favor of Kavanaugh, as she announced she would on Friday. Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had announced her intention to vote against Kavanaugh, but instead, she voted “present,” as a favor to her colleague, Montana Senator Steve Daines. Daines had planned to travel back to DC from his daughter’s wedding if the vote had been close, but Murkowski’s vote made that unnecessary. On the Democratic side, Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the sole Kavanaugh vote.
Americans United for Life President and CEO, Catherine Glenn Foster, celebrated the new pro-life majority on the Supreme Court. “Today is a historic day for all Americans who support and work to advance the culture of life,” Foster said. “Americans United for Life applauds the Senate for overcoming partisan politics and gridlock to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Kavanaugh’s distinguished judicial career has been built upon his constitutionalist approach to law, and we trust that this will serve all Americans well whenRoe v. Wade inevitably comes before the Supreme Court for review.”
What Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation means is that for the first time in 26 years, our nation has a majority of Supreme Court justices who are not emotionally invested in preserving Roe v. Wade as their legacy, and who understand that not only does life begin at conception, as affirmed by medical science, but also that Roe was an egregious example of constitutional overreach. AUL looks forward to the day when Roe is banished to its proper place among the Court’s most shameful decisions, like the “separate but equal” error of Plessy v. Ferguson, the egregious decision justifying the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II (Korematsu), and worst of all, Dred Scott v. Sandford – which, like Roe, denied the humanity of millions of Americans. With Justice Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, we have confidence that that day is soon at hand.
Tomorrow’s final Kavanaugh Column will look back and consider the lessons learned in a historic confirmation battle, and also look ahead to ask what the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh may hold for the future of pro-life legal efforts – and of Roe v. Wade itself.
