Roe v. Wade is in jeopardy

Schumer after meeting with Kavanaugh: Roe v. Wade is in jeopardy

By NOLAN D. MCCASKIL

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he left his 90-minute meeting with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh convinced that the conservative jurist could vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if confirmed.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) was one of five Democrats who met privately with Kavanaugh on Tuesday afternoon. President Donald Trump’s nominee also met with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who told reporters earlier that Kavanaugh had agreed the 1973 Supreme Court case establishing abortion rights was settled law.

“I understand that the judge told other members today that he considered Roe v. Wade settled law. He did not say that to me,” Schumer said. “But that is not the important or decisive question.”

“Everything the Supreme Court decides is settled law until a majority of the Supreme Court decides to unsettle it,” he continued. “Conservative justices have a habit of saying something is settled law during their confirmation and then overturning the minute they get on the bench.”

Schumer vowed last month to oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation. He led a blockade of Senate Democrats who refused to meet with the president’s pick until Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) broke it late last month.

Schumer credited Kavanaugh for allowing them to go over their scheduled 45-minute meeting time but complained that he refused to answer basic questions.

“I asked him if he agreed that Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood were correctly decided,” Schumer told reporters. “He would not say yes. That should send shivers down the spine of any American who believes in reproductive freedom for women.”

Kavanaugh also failed to say whether Obamacare is constitutional or whether a sitting president must comply with a subpoena, Schumer added, in addition to failing to recall key moments from his time as staff secretary and counsel in George W. Bush’s White House, which Schumer framed as further evidence that Democrats should be given access to documents from that time.

“His lack of recollection on almost everything didn’t ring true,” Schumer said. “He’s a bright man. He recalls a lot. But on every key question like those, he said, ‘I couldn’t’ recall.’”

Schumer argued that Kavanaugh is in a unique position as a Supreme Court pick who was nominated after the president vowed to appoint only judges who would overturn abortion rights.

“Judge Kavanaugh has a special obligation to make his views on this topic clear,” Schumer said. “I reminded him repeatedly that he’s in a unique position: No other president has nominated someone to the Supreme Court after saying, ‘I will only nominate someone who overturns Roe v. Wade.’ He had a special obligation to dispute that if he didn’t agree with it. He did not. At all.”

Still, Democrats’ odds of stopping Kavanaugh from being confirmed are a long shot. Even with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) out recovering from brain cancer, Republicans have a 50-49 majority. And three Democrats — Manchin and Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota — voted for the president’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. All three are also up for reelection in states Trump won by at least 19 points in 2016.

Schumer seemingly acknowledged Democrats’ long odds in a Freudian slip. “It’s not good enough for this justice to say…,” Schumer began, before correcting himself. “This potential justice — hope he doesn’t get there — but this judge to say, well, he’ll follow existing law. Because that changes all the time.”