Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Responds to Advancement of Two Anti-Choice Judicial Nominees
For Immediate Release: July 31, 2020
Contact: [email protected]
Anti-choice Trump nominees one step closer to lifetime position on federal bench
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance two anti-choice nominees to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Judges Stephen McGlynn and David Dugan. NARAL opposes both of these nominees for their long history of open hostility toward reproductive freedom. The committee voted 13-9 to advance both nominees, with every anti-choice Republican on the committee, along with Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), voting to advance McGlynn and Dugan out of committee.
Following yesterday’s committee vote, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue released the following statement:
“The nomination of Judges McGlynn and Dugan are a product of antiquated systems that have been hijacked by the Radical Right in their relentless pursuit to capture the court and enshrine their unpopular agenda. McGlynn and Dugan are both hostile to reproductive freedom and pose a threat to Roe v. Wade, an attitude that has become a litmus test for upholding Trump’s and the Right’s dangerous agenda. We are disappointed in Senator Durbin for voting to advance these nominees and appalled that the anti-choice Republican majority on the committee continues to stack the courts with Trump’s judges, even in the midst of a pandemic. At a time when our fundamental freedoms hang in the balance, we need our elected leaders to stand up for women and families in the face of incessant anti-choice, anti-freedom attacks.”
David Dugan is a longtime opponent of reproductive freedom. In response to an Illinois Right to Life judicial candidate survey, Dugan made his extreme hostility to reproductive freedom clear. He stated that he believes “life begins at conception,” has “been deeply involved in various organizations as a pro-life advocate,” supports laws and restrictions on abortion access, and believes the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade is “sorely misplaced.”
Multiple anti-choice groups who are dedicated to overturning Roe v. Wade endorsed or supported Stephen McGlynn when he ran to become a state court judge. In 2004, McGlynn led the drafting and development of the Illinois Republican Party platform, which doubled down on its opposition to the right to abortion and was called “the most comprehensively pro-life platform in the nation.”
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NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all. For more than 50 years, NARAL has worked to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. Since 1969, NARAL has made history, grown to over 2.5 million members, and met the moments that have defined this fight with action, power and freedom. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”