Susan B. Anthony List President Urges Senate to Oppose Cloture for Confirmation of Judge who strenuously obstructed commonsense abortion regulations
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 /Christian Newswire/ -- In anticipation of a confirmation vote this week on President Obama's nomination of Judge David Hamilton to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser addressed the nomination.
"If Judge David Hamilton is considered a blueprint for the next judge President Obama will nominate for the U.S. Supreme Court, America is in trouble," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. "Hamilton's record of abortion-friendly judicial activism has been rejected more than once by the 7th Circuit, which handily reversed several of his rulings. Now Hamilton has been nominated to the very court which admonished his 'abuse of discretion' in delaying implementation of Indiana's commonsense informed consent law.
"Women and unborn children deserve access to protections like informed consent without pro-abortion activist judges standing in their way. On behalf of the 290,000 Susan B. Anthony List members and activists, I urge senators to vote no on cloture for Judge Hamilton's nomination. Americans deserve a robust debate about the real impact Judge Hamilton's decisions will have on women and their innocent unborn children."
For seven years on the bench as a federal district judge, Hamilton prevented the implementation of Indiana's informed consent law, a measure enacted by the Indiana state legislature in line with precedent set by Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The law established that at least 18 hours before an abortion, doctors must explain the risks and alternatives to abortion, as well as offer women the opportunity to see an ultrasound picture of their child and hear the infant's heartbeat.
In it's reversal of Hamilton's ruling, the 7th Circuit Court issued a statement ( cited in a Dear Colleague letter by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee) chiding Hamilton for delaying implementation of the law: "For seven years Indiana has been prevented from enforcing a statute materially identical to a law held valid by the Supreme Court in Casey, by this court in Karlin, and by the fifth circuit in Barnes. No court anywhere in the country (other than one district judge in Indiana [i.e., Hamilton]) has held any similar law invalid in the years since Casey," they added. "[I]t is an abuse of discretion for a district judge to issue a pre- enforcement injunction while the effects of the law (and reasons for those effects) are open to debate."
Earlier this month Marjorie Dannenfelser joined conservative leaders nationwide tosign a letter to senators urging a rejection of Hamilton's nomination. The U.S. Senate is expected to consider Mr. Hamilton's nomination to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals this afternoon.
The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide network of Americans, over 152,000 residing in all 50 states, dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics. Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in the political process.
