Bush-Supporter Gary Bauer Abandons His Previous View That There Should Be Pro-Life Litmus Test For Judges
Fascinating exchange on ABC’s “This Week” (11/28/04) between Tony Campolo, a liberal who is president of the “Evangelical Association For The Promotion of Education,” and Gary Bauer, a conservative who is president of “American Values.”
Campolo: “I contend that the religious right has to answer some questions on this issue. Four years ago you people got out the vote for George Bush….you got out the vote for George Bush on Roe versus Wade. Four years elapsed. You had a Republican Congress, a Republican Senate. Yet, he did not make the slightest effort to overturn Roe versus Wade. Late-term abortion, yes, but Roe versus Wade he left untouched.
Bauer: “Well, Tony, you’re …
Campolo: “Let me finish.
Bauer: “Okay.
Campolo: “And it would seem to me that the evangelical community that has made this such a hot issue should have been on his doorstep yelling and screaming and saying we elected you to overturn Roe versus Wade. You didn’t do it. It would seem to me that you should have made noise about that which left me with the suspicion that the religious right was more committed to a Republican president and not embarrassing him than they were to the unborn, so that concerns me a great deal, and I wonder how you respond to that.
Bauer: “Well, as you know, you’re talking to the fellow that ran in the Republican primaries in 2000 and confronted then-Governor Bush in five national presidential debates on the issue of the sanctity of life. The president can’t overturn Roe versus Wade. The only way Roe versus Wade can be overturned is by a decision of the Supreme Court.
Campolo: “Yes, and he said that I’m not going to make that a litmus test for Supreme Court justices. Why wasn’t there outrage by people like you?
Bauer: “Well, because, well, there has been criticism of him, but the president believes that rather than asking judges about individual issues, he wants a certain philosophy, which he calls strict constructionism, and we believe that if you put strict constructionists on the court, that, in fact, Roe versus Wade will be overturned and we will be able to put behind us what I think has been a disastrous chapter in American history.”
Bauer: “Well, Tony, you’re …
Campolo: “Let me finish.
Bauer: “Okay.
Campolo: “And it would seem to me that the evangelical community that has made this such a hot issue should have been on his doorstep yelling and screaming and saying we elected you to overturn Roe versus Wade. You didn’t do it. It would seem to me that you should have made noise about that which left me with the suspicion that the religious right was more committed to a Republican president and not embarrassing him than they were to the unborn, so that concerns me a great deal, and I wonder how you respond to that.
Bauer: “Well, as you know, you’re talking to the fellow that ran in the Republican primaries in 2000 and confronted then-Governor Bush in five national presidential debates on the issue of the sanctity of life. The president can’t overturn Roe versus Wade. The only way Roe versus Wade can be overturned is by a decision of the Supreme Court.
Campolo: “Yes, and he said that I’m not going to make that a litmus test for Supreme Court justices. Why wasn’t there outrage by people like you?
Bauer: “Well, because, well, there has been criticism of him, but the president believes that rather than asking judges about individual issues, he wants a certain philosophy, which he calls strict constructionism, and we believe that if you put strict constructionists on the court, that, in fact, Roe versus Wade will be overturned and we will be able to put behind us what I think has been a disastrous chapter in American history.”
But, what Bauer says here is not true. Roe v. Wade can, de facto, be overturned by a President without a Supreme Court decision. And Constitution Party Presidential candidate Michael Anthony Peroutka said exactly how he would accomplish this when he ran in 2004. Michael said:
“As President, I would do everything in my power to end the national disgrace of abortion, starting with a formal acknowledgment of the legal person-hood of every child from the moment of conception. I would appoint U.S. Attorneys – by recess appointment if necessary – who will secure the right to life of the unborn….
“Thus, under my presidency, Roe v. Wade will not be enforced, and the member states of the Union could again open their criminal codes and begin the prosecution of the doctors and parents who would contract for the murder of an unborn child without fear of reprisal from the Chief Executive.”
“Thus, under my presidency, Roe v. Wade will not be enforced, and the member states of the Union could again open their criminal codes and begin the prosecution of the doctors and parents who would contract for the murder of an unborn child without fear of reprisal from the Chief Executive.”
And Bauer’s view in 2004 that it was OK for Mr. Bush to not have a pro-life litmus test for his judicial nominees is a far cry from what he said when he sought the GOP Presidential nomination in 2000. For example, on Public TV’s “NewsHour” program (7/31/2000), Bauer said:
“I dream at night about an America which in which 1.5 million [unborn] children are part of an American family. My expectation is that Governor Bush is man of his word. During the campaign in the debates I took place in, he repeatedly said that he wanted all of our children welcomed into the world and protected by the law. I can remember the words because I used them first. And I believe if you want children protected under the Constitution, and Declaration of Independence, you’ve got put pro-life judges on the court….
“Every judge, every judge that Bill Clinton has put on the federal court from the top level to the bottom is pro abortion and pro gay rights. They’re serious about their judicial appointments. I’m going to be very disappointed if my party and our next Republican President isn’t just as serious about his appointments.”
“Every judge, every judge that Bill Clinton has put on the federal court from the top level to the bottom is pro abortion and pro gay rights. They’re serious about their judicial appointments. I’m going to be very disappointed if my party and our next Republican President isn’t just as serious about his appointments.”
Comment: Except President George Bush, who Bauer enthusiastically supported in 2004, does not want “all of our children welcomed into the world and protected by the law.” Mr. Bush believes abortion is OK in the cases of rape, incest and “life of the mother.”
On this same program, when another guest notes that it’s interesting that in the past we have not known, in advance, the positions of judicial nominees on specific issues, Bauer says: “And shame on us….That’s an important issue. And we ought to ask them whether or not we believe our children are part of the American family”
On an “MSNBC Special” (1/6/2000), Bauer, referring to the first President Bush, said: “I not only think that President Bush made a colossal mistake by putting a justice on the court that is a reliable vote for Clinton and Gore, I believe we can never afford to make another mistake like that. Look, seven of the current nine Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Abortion should be over.”
Well, now it can be said: Shame on Gary Bauer. Because by vigorously supporting George Bush for President in 2004, Bauer backed a man who is not only not completely pro-life but Mr. Bush is also a man who has said repeatedly he has no litmus test for judges —- something Bauer said in 2000 was “an important issue.”
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