Restoring Self-Government on Abortion: A Federalism Amendment

Forsythe, Clarke D., Presser, Stephen B., Texas Review of Law & Politics

I. INTRODUCTION

The abortion issue has increasingly charged and burdened the confirmation hearings of federal judges over the past twenty years since the Senate hearings on Judge Robert Bork's nomination in 1987. Abortion was at the center of the confirmation hearings of Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005 and Justice Samuel Alito in 2006. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter asserted that Roe v. Wade was a "super precedent.'"1 Some senators sought to get public commitments that then-Judges Roberts and Alito would support Roe; many voted against them for the sole reason that they would not publicly make such commitments.1 With only five supporters of Roe v. Wade left …

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Publication information: Article title: Restoring Self-Government on Abortion: A Federalism Amendment. Contributors: Forsythe, Clarke D. - Author, Presser, Stephen B. - Author. Journal title: Texas Review of Law & Politics. Volume: 10. Issue: 2 Publication date: Spring 2006. Page number: 301+. © University of Texas, Austin, School of Law Publications, Inc. Fall 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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