A Breakdown of Amy Coney Barrett & Her Most Disturbing Stances on Abortion
by Hannah White (she/her)
Amy Coney Barrett has become a household name in a matter of days. She is President Trump’s Supreme Court nomination and is on track to replace the Honorable Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Barrett graduated from Notre Dame Law School and soon after clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia (who became somewhat infamous for his anti-abortion stances alone). She later returned to Notre Dame to teach and was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in October of 2017. Like Justice Scalia, Barrett considers herself an originalist — a legal philosophy that suggests we should interpret the Constitution exactly how the original authors intended it to be when it was ratified. In the past, she has criticized stare decisis — the practice in which judges rely on precedent to make rulings. Her originalist ideas are not just a differing of opinion, but flat out dangerous. To suggest that someone leading on the highest court in the land in 2020 wants to follow the Constitution as it was intended to be in 1776 — when slavery and institutional sexism was state-sanctioned — is terrifying.
Barrett has been called a “superstar of the religious right” and was questioned during her confirmation about whether her Catholic faith would impact her ability to judge secular laws fairly. Barrett co-authored a publication during her time at Notre Dame titled Catholic Judges in Capital Cases, where she writes about her moral dilemma between being a member of the Catholic Church and still trying to uphold the law (in case you’re wondering: no, those two should never overlap). In the publication, Barrett echoes the Catholic teaching that abortion is “always immoral.” Meanwhile, although the Catholic Church has been vocal about not supporting the death penalty, Barrett sides with the courts on that one. It makes it hard to know how much her religious beliefs will shape her decisions when she has a history of being selective about which Catholic ideals she upholds.
President Trump said in a 2016 debate that he would fill the court with pro-life justices to overturn Roe v. Wade. Barrett has shown time and time again that she is vehemently against abortion. In 2018, she argued that it might be constitutional to require that funerals be held for fetal remains after an abortion or miscarriage under Indiana law, even after it was ruled to be unconstitutional and was eventually overturned in 2019. At the same time, she argued it also might be constitutional to ban abortions based on sex, race, or fetal abnormality — suggesting that women need to give a reason to have an abortion — after it was ruled unconstitutional. When asked about overturning Roe v. Wade at an appearance at Jacksonville University, she said “Roe’s core holding [is] that, you know, women have a right to an abortion — I don’t think that would change. But I think the question of whether people can get very late-term abortions, how many restrictions can be put on clinics — I think that would change.” This take is especially alarming, considering that in Colorado, we have an abortion ban on the ballot that will be voted on next month. One of her most notable cases was when Indiana’s Supreme Court decided not to pass a law that would require parents to be informed if a minor sought an abortion. She joined the dissent and called for the reconsideration. It did not pass.
Barrett doesn’t believe in precedent. She doesn’t believe that the Constitution should change with the needs of the time. She believes that her religious values do not play a part in her ability to judge even though we have seen that is not the case. This is not a matter of religious differences or what is “morally good” to some. It is about freedom, health, and the right to decide if or when to start a family for all.
