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Bush Supreme Court Nominee Miers Led Bar Association Against Support for Abortion on Demand

WASHINGTON, October 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Bush today nominated Harriet Miers to the United States Supreme Court to fill the seat of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Harriet Miers, 60, is a longtime friend and adviser to President Bush. She represented him while he was Governor of Texas and has been serving as White House counsel, succeeding Alberto Gonzales who left that post to become Attorney General. In her role as White House counsel, Miers has been instrumental in assisting the President in choosing and winning confirmation for judicial nominees. Previously, Ms. Miers was the first woman to lead a large law firm in Texas and to serve as president of the Texas State Bar. She was raised in humble circumstances and has devoted substantial volunteer time to providing legal aid to low-income members of society.

While little is known about Ms. Miers' judicial leanings, the President has sought to assure the public that she will not be a judicial activist. In today's press conference, Ms. Miers herself stated, "It is the responsibility of every generation to be true to the founders' vision of the proper role of the courts in our society. If confirmed I recognize that I will have a tremendous responsibility to keep our judicial system strong and to help ensure that the courts meet their obligations to strictly apply the laws and the Constitution."

Leonard Leo, a White House adviser on Supreme Court nominations highlighted her efforts as part of the reason that "conservatives should be very happy with this selection."  In a memo obtained by the Washington Post, Leo said, "As a leader of the bar, Harriet Miers was a fearless and very strong proponent of conservative legal views. She led a campaign to have the American Bar Association end its practice of supporting abortion-on-demand and taxpayer-funded abortions."

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, stated, "It is clear that Harriet Miers has a distinguished legal career and has worked closely with President Bush to appoint many exceptional judges to the federal bench. We are hopeful that she will herself prove to be a strict constructionist, and we will be closely monitoring the upcoming confirmation hearings in the Senate."

The Supreme Court will be taking up many key issues this term, including the validity of a Connecticut law requiring parental notification before a minor can obtain an abortion. Pacific Justice Institute has filed an amicus brief in that case, as well as in several other cases likely to reach the Supreme Court, involving issues such as partial-birth abortion and the Pledge of Allegiance.

See the Washington Post coverage:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/03/AR2005100300725....

jhw

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