This week’s sad news reminds us that – even with Justice Rehnquist returning to the bench – there will almost certainly be at least one, and possibly as many as four, Supreme Court vacancies in the next four years. The Court has not gone unchanged so long since the 1820’s.

Voters have a right to know how President Bush would fill a position that will affect American lives for generations, but he refuses to come clean. His selections for the lower courts have been guided by a clear litmus test – no one pro-choice need apply – resulting in numerous choices from far outside the legal mainstream.

The names being bandied about as potential Supreme Court nominees are cut from the same cloth as Bush’s previous choices. When he said his model Supreme Court Justices were Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, he clearly meant it.

Indeed, if Chief Justice Rehnquist chooses to step down, Bush would likely seek to elevate one of those two Justices to the powerful position of Chief. A recent authorized biography of Thomas revealed that he has already been vetted by the White House for the position.

NARAL Pro-Choice America believes it is important before Election Day to look at the records of the current judges being mentioned as possible Bush nominees:

Samuel A. Alito, Jr. – As a Judge on the Third Circuit, Judge Alito upheld a Pennsylvania anti-choice law that the Supreme Court overturned in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. He wrote an opinion in that case arguing for a standard that would permit virtually any restriction on the right to choose.

Janice Rogers Brown – On the California Supreme Court, Justice Brown has criticized the Constitutional right to privacy, and expressed hostility to reproductive choice. She was also the sole dissenter in a recent decision requiring Catholic Charities to treat prescription contraception the same as other drugs in its employee health plan.

Emilio M. Garza – Judge Garza’s opposition to a woman’s right to choose is beyond question. He wrote two separate opinions explicitly criticizing Roe v. Wade and suggesting it be overturned. He has even criticized Griswold v. Connecticut, the landmark case recognizing the right to privacy and protecting the right of a married couple to use contraception.

J. Michael Luttig – A former clerk to Justice Scalia, Judge Luttig has ruled to uphold a Virginia abortion ban nearly identical to one found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Judge Luttig wrote the Fourth Circuit opinion striking down the Violence Against Women Act. He also ruled to permit judges to ignore young women’s requests for judicial bypass of notice requirements -- even when they are found to be mature and capable of giving informed consent.

J Harvie Wilkinson, III -- Judge Wilkinson went against Supreme Court precedent to uphold a state law denying young women access to judicial bypass of parental notice provisions. While the court was deciding whether to keep the injunction in place, Judge Wilkinson, according to the Associated Press, said that the law “probably exceeds the protections required by the Supreme Court and called it a very mild and moderate form of regulation.”

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