Roberts, as Principal Deputy Solicitor General, a top political lawyer in the first Bush administration, filed a "friend of the court" brief for the United States in support of Operation Rescue and six other individuals who routinely blocked access to reproductive health care clinics, arguing that the protesters’ behavior did not amount to discrimination against women even though only women could exercise the right to seek an abortion.

In a statement released last night, Operation Rescue cited Roberts’ role as a chief political lawyer in the first Bush administration as evidence he would overturn Roe v. Wade: "Roberts has shown strong conservative credentials with indications that he will not uphold Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that decriminalized abortion. Roberts coauthored a 1990 legal brief that stated, ‘The court's conclusion in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion... finds no support in the text, structure or history of the Constitution.’"

"John Roberts deployed his considerable legal talents to enable a violent organization to continue its orchestrated campaign of intimidation and threats against American women. Roberts went out of his way to support these actions, and now Operation Rescue is cheering his nomination and telling their members he will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "Across the board, radical right groups that told President Bush they didn’t want a consensus candidate are now praising John Roberts. With groups like Operation Rescue backing Roberts, the 65 percent of Americans who support upholding Roe know that he is not a consensus candidate."