Kavanaugh Questioned On Controversial Abortion Opinion

US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh speaks on the second day of his confirmation hearing in front of the US Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on September 5, 2018. - President Donald Trump's newest Suprem... US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh speaks on the second day of his confirmation hearing in front of the US Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on September 5, 2018. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was grilled on a controversial abortion case where he twice sided with the Trump administration’s argument that it could block a detained immigrant minor’s abortion until she was found a sponsor.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked Kavanaugh about the dissenting opinion in Garza v. Hargan where he said the full appeals court, in its decision against the delay, had adopted a philosophy “that unlawful immigrant minors have a right to immediate abortion on demand.”

Kavanaugh defended his opinion, and claimed he was following Supreme Court precedent on parental consent and on when delays were appropriate in abortion cases.

Durbin pointed out that the minor had already gotten the approval from a judge, as a required by Texas law, to seek the abortion, and asked Kavanaugh why he wanted to add a requirement that she must also have an immigration sponsor before obtaining it.

“I’m not adding [the requirement], I’m a judge,” Kavanaugh said. “The policy is being made by others.”

His job, he said, was to asses whether the Trump administration’s policy was consistent with Supreme Court precedent.

He blew past Durbin’s question as to whether the immigration sponsor was a state requirement, and stressed that his opinion acknowledged the “difficult situation” the immigrant minor was in.

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  1. “I’m not adding [the requirement], I’m a judge.”

    That’s the kind of logic that judges, “liberal” as well as “conservative,” express all the time. I’m just following the rules, not making them. I’m an umpire. And it’s a crock.

  2. He blew past Durbin’s question as to whether the immigration sponsor was a state requirement, and stressed that his opinion acknowledged the “difficult situation” the immigrant minor was in.

    “And as an anti-choice, repeal Roe v. Wade judge I wanted to make that ‘difficult situation’ a damned near impossible situation, with the added bonus that I was doing it to an immigrant.”

  3. Avatar for nycabj nycabj says:

    It’s the ever popular, at least in this administration, claim: Don’t bother me with facts.

  4. Avatar for marby marby says:

    Gee, you nailed Kavanaugh’s attitude perfectly. He is self-righteous and self-protective - and, hearing him speak, I am more nervous than ever about the future decisions coming out of a Supreme Court with Kavanaugh on it.

  5. Avatar for paulw paulw says:

    Lying liars gonna lie.

    “Just to twist the knife, I shed as many crocodile tears as I thought appropriate.”

    I wish one could ask questions like “As a believer in an omnipotent god, how do you explain not yet having been struck down already for the perversions you have uttered?”

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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