Over 60% Americans want Roe v Wade ruling to stay, says poll as Amy Coney Barrett's Senate hearing begins
Ever since President Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett as the successor to the iconic Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg who passed away last month, Liberal Americans are worried that the tilt of the Supreme Court bench will go heavily in favor of the conservatives and historic judgments like that in Roe v. Wade case (1973) could be in peril. The 48-year-old Barrett is known to be a conservative who is against abortion and it is feared she would contribute towards scrapping the Roe verdict to make it more challenging for women seeking abortions. The Republican camp has ruled out any such possibility and Barrett herself gave an indication that she would approach cases on the basis of law and not personal views.
Meanwhile, a new poll conducted by ABC News/Washington Post which was revealed on Monday, October 12, showed that only one in four registered voters backed the idea of the Supreme Court overturning the landmark Roe verdict while 62 percent felt it should stay. Fourteen percent said they had no opinion on the crucial issue. Barrett’s confirmation hearings at the Senate also started the same day.
The poll was taken between October 6-9, days after Trump picked Barrett as the replacement for RBG. The Republicans have hurried with the replacement procedure, earning a backlash from the Democrats who have accused them of hypocrisy since it was the same GOP that had declined to give a hearing to Merrick Garland, former President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia who died in 2016, arguing against picking an SC judge in an election year. Veteran Republican leaders like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham have taken a complete U-turn when it came to picking the successor to Ginsburg, also in an election year.
When broken down gender-wise, the poll found 66 percent of women speaking in favor of the Roe v. Wade verdict while among men, 58 percent were in its favor. When seen party-wise, 81 percent of Democrats and liberals combined spoke in favor of upholding the ruling while 75 percent of the voters who consider themselves moderates backed it. Among the conservatives and Republicans, the number was 37 and 40 percent, respectively. Three in four persons who have no religious preference wanted the judgment to be upheld while 44 percent of the Protestants wanted the same.
On the question of filling up RBG's vacant seat, 52 percent felt the task of appointing her successor should be left to the winner of the presidential election and a Senate vote next year. On the other hand, 44 percent said the current Senate should vote on Trump's nomination of Barrett. The division was less than 57-38 percent in favor of waiting found in a poll conducted in September.
'Courts not designed to solve every problem'
In her opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Barrett, who recalled Justice Scalia, her mentor, and Justice Ginsburg, said: “But courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life. The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the People. The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try,” giving an indication that she is not planning to pen her own thoughts into law.
The SC nominee’s remarks came to light as Senator Graham, the committee’s chairman and an ally to Trump, predicted that the former will be confirmed no later than October 27, which will be just days ahead of the election.