Brett Kavanaugh says he won’t vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, but a leaked email suggests otherwise
Since former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court in July, many pro-choice activists have warned of the damage his appointment could do to reproductive rights. And now, a newly leaked email has cast doubt on whether or not Kavanaugh believes the landmark court case Roe v. Wade can be overturned.
The New York Times published the confidential email today, September 6th. The message, which was sent in March 2003, was leaked to the Times from thousands of documents released to the Senate Judiciary Committee about Kavanaugh’s time as a White House Counsel under President George W. Bush.
The email concerned an anti-abortion opinion piece that Kavanaugh was drafting on behalf of a group of pro-life women. In the message, he proposed removing a line that said legal scholars deem Roe v. Wade as “the settled law of the land.” Kavanaugh wrote that he was “not sure” that all legal scholars held this opinion because the Supreme Court “can always overrule its precedent.”
Breaking: Leaked committee docs show where Kavanaugh says Roe can be overturned. #disqualified #StopKavanagh pic.twitter.com/c1ndIYX13m
— Ilyse Hogue (@ilyseh) September 6, 2018
During confirmation proceedings today, California Senator Dianne Feinstein asked Kavanaugh to clarify what he said in the email, as shown in a video tweeted by Politico. The Supreme Court nominee said that he had meant to refer to legal scholars’ opinions in the email, and that Roe v. Wade was clearly a legal precedent. But he was careful to avoid saying what he thought of the decision or hint at whether or not he would vote to overturn it.
Kavanaugh was asked to clarify his stance on Roe v. Wade after an email leaked of him saying he's “not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law at the Supreme Court level since court can always overrule its precedent and three current justices" would do so. pic.twitter.com/JGqAglG7rp
— POLITICO (@politico) September 6, 2018
HuffPost notes that during questioning on September 5th, Kavanaugh said he considers Roe v. Wade precedent.
"My position as a judge is that there’s 45 years of precedent and there’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which reaffirmed Roe," he said. "So that’s precedent on precedent, as I’ve explained, and that’s important. And that’s an important precedent to the Supreme Court."
However, Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, tweeted that she believes the email indicates that Kavanaugh would “gut Roe v. Wade” if given the chance.
All of Brett Kavanaugh's assertions about ‘settled law’ were nothing but a show to mislead the Senate, which he must do to try to pass muster with American people who overwhelmingly support Roe. Now we know exactly why Republicans are hiding his records. #StopKavanaugh pic.twitter.com/EIX8cN9Tyn
— NARAL (@NARAL) September 6, 2018
Other leaked documents about Kavanaugh could also land the nominee in hot water. CNN reported that New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has said he will release confidential documents pertaining to Kavanaugh and racial profiling, a move that could potentially get Booker expelled from the Senate.
The newly released 2003 email certainly seems to undermine Kavanaugh’s claim that he views Roe v. Wade as absolute legal precedent. If you feel strongly about this issue, contact your representatives today and let them know.
