WASHINGTON— Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston,
President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), wrote to the
members of the Senate on July 6, urging them not to use support for Roe v.
Wade as a litmus test for judicial nominees in their deliberations about
the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States.

The
letter makes clear that the USCCB “does not support or oppose confirmation of
particular presidential nominees.” Instead, the letter expresses “grave
concerns about the confirmation process…being grossly distorted by efforts to
subject judicial nominees to a litmus test in support of Roe, as though
nominees who oppose the purposeful taking of innocent human life are somehow
unfit for judicial office in the United States.”

“By
any measure,” the Cardinal says, “support for Roe is an impoverished
standard for assessing judicial ability. For forty-five years, Roe has
sparked more informed criticism and public resistance than any other court
decision of the late 20th century.”

The
letter points to decades of polling showing that most Americans oppose Roe’s
policy of unlimited abortion, to a growing number
of state legislatures passing pro-life laws, to mainstream medicine rejecting
abortion, and to many legal scholars who support abortion who have
criticized Roe for not being grounded in the U.S. Constitution.

“If
a Supreme Court ruling was wrongly decided, is widely rejected as morally
flawed and socially harmful, and is seen even by many supporters as having
little basis in the Constitution, these are very good reasons not to use it as
a litmus test for future judges. Further, a nominees’ faith should not be used
as a proxy for their views on Roe. Any religious test for public office
is both unjust and unconstitutional.”

The
full text of Cardinal DiNardo’s letter to the Senate is posted at: https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/abortion/upload/usccb-president-letter-to-senate-on-judicial-nominees-070618.pdf

For
more on the U.S. Bishops’ pro-life efforts, including information on Roe v.
Wade, visit: https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/abortion/roe-v-wade.cfm

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Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops