Driven by her evangelical Christian beliefs, Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers has left an impression that she holds anti-abortion views, and on Wednesday groups that support abortion rights expressed concern about her possible tenure on the high court.
At the same time, conservatives and Republican leaders in the Senate questioned whether they knew enough about Miers and her opinions to wholeheartedly support her.
Though Miers has not expressed much about her views on social issues in writing, a picture has emerged of a strong-willed woman with an unwavering desire to uphold the law and a quarter-century in a church with an anti-abortion position.
And for opposite reasons, that is what troubles people on both sides of the abortion issue, some of whom wonder whether Roe vs. Wade, the case that guaranteed a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion, could be overturned with Miers on the court.
While abortion-rights groups voiced concerns Wednesday that Miers might not provide the balance that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor brought to the bench, some anti-abortion advocates worried that she could be more like Justice David Souter, who was appointed by President Bush’s father as a conservative but has turned out to be a liberal on the bench.
“The stakes are very high with this nomination, and both sides are calling for transparency. If she is really as anti-choice as it looks like she is, the American people ought to know,” said Priscilla Smith, director of domestic legal programs for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which supports abortion rights.
Despite Bush’s efforts to reassure conservatives about Miers, the abortion issue continues to divide Republicans who want a justice who will tilt the high court solidly to the right and overturn Roe.
Miers gained support Wednesday from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the Christian Coalition and the National Right to Life Committee. But Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a conservative member of the Judiciary Committee, said there is a “good chance” he will vote against Miers if she considers Roe vs. Wade to be “settled law.”
“There is precious little to go on and a deep concern that this would be a Souter-type candidate,” Brownback said on “Good Morning America.” “The circumstances seem to be very similar. Not much track record, people vouching for her, yet indications of a different thought pattern earlier in life.”
People who know Miers said her views on social issues such as abortion changed after she was baptized into the evangelical Valley View Christian Church in suburban Dallas in 1980. Her longtime pastor, Rev. Ron Key, said the non-denominational church stands solidly against abortion.
“We are pro-life and we feel that God gives life when a child is conceived. We believe that life is a precious holy thing,” said Key, who had served as pastor for 33 years but left three weeks ago following a disagreement over the church’s direction.
Lorlee Bartos, who managed Miers’ successful campaign for a seat on the Dallas City Council in 1989, said Miers’ thoughts changed on abortion around the time she joined the church.
“She told me she had at one time been pro-choice but she no longer was. She had a change of mind,” Bartos said.
Bush, who has known Miers for more than 10 years, said he knows her character and is confident that she will not change over time. Miers, a corporate lawyer who has never been a judge, has worked in the Bush administration since 2001 and became White House counsel this year.
Still, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), said the president must do more than say “trust me” in order for him to support a Supreme Court nominee.
“I don’t just automatically salute or take a deep bow anytime a nominee is sent up,” Lott told MSNBC. “I have to find out who these people are, and right now, I’m not satisfied with what I know.”
Nothing in Miers’ record during her years in Texas provides a definitive answer to how she feels about Roe vs. Wade. While attention has been focused on her unsuccessful efforts in the 1990s to get the American Bar Association to appeal a resolution supporting abortion rights, lawyers on both sides of the issue said there was no indication she was advocating her personal views.
At the time, she was president of the State Bar of Texas, which wanted the national group to remain neutral.
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