Michael Wallace's Withdrawal Marks Opportunity for Bush to End Divisive Judicial Appointments

Washington, DC - Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, released the following statement on the withdrawal of anti-choice judicial nominee Michael Wallace to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. NARAL Pro-Choice America formally opposed this nomination last year.

“Today’s withdrawal of judicial nominee Michael Brunson Wallace represents an opportunity for President Bush to unite the country around a consensus nominee, instead of continuing to cave to political pressure from the right wing. Like many of Bush’s nominees, Mr. Wallace has a clear record of opposition to Roe v. Wade.

“The recent mid-term elections should have been a wake-up call to the president that Americans are tired of his divisive attacks on a woman’s right to choose with his anti-choice nominees to lifetime appointments on the courts. Pro-choice Americans reaffirmed their commitment to the values of freedom and privacy, and are looking for elected officials to find common ground on this issue.”

As an attorney in private practice, Wallace chose to fight against the right to privacy, even unsuccessfully arguing that a state constitution failed to protect the right to choose.  Representing the elected state government of Mississippi in Pro-Choice Mississippi v. Fordice, Wallace argued in favor of several restrictions on women’s access to abortion services, including a mandatory delay and a biased-counseling requirement, as well as a provision designed to reduce access to abortion care for young women. In May 2006, he received a unanimous “not qualified” rating from the nonpartisan American Bar Association judicial evaluation committee, becoming the first appeals court nominee to merit such a rating in 25 years.

Contact:
Ted Miller, 202.973.3032