Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was overheard on a hot mic speaking about someone’s pro-life position — presumably that of Judge Amy Coney Barrett — stating she suspects the view is “deeply personal” and “comes with her religion.”
A clip, which surfaced Thursday, featured one side of a conversation featuring Feinstein, who could be heard speaking about an unnamed individual’s “long time” pro-life views.
“She’s been pro-life for a long time. So I suspect with her, it is deeply personal and comes with her religion,” Feinstein said:
Notably, C-SPAN picked up some of the statement before cutting to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the hallway. The context of Feinstein’s conversation remains unclear, as does who she was specifically referring to. Nonetheless, Barrett’s personal pro-life views have remained a point of concern for radical feminists and Democrat lawmakers, including Feinstein.
In 2017, Democrats questioned Barrett, who had been nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, about her Catholic faith, wondering if it would disqualify her from carrying out her Supreme Court duties. Feinstein famously told Barrett that “the dogma lives loudly within you.”
“And that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for for years in this country,” Feinstein said at the time.
On Tuesday, Barrett responded to Feinstein’s questions regarding the judge’s view on certain abortion cases and assured the lawmaker that she has no agenda.
“I follow the law,” Barrett said:
Feinstein specifically asked Barrett if she agreed “with Justice Scalia’s view that Roe was wrongly decided.”
“Senator, I completely understand why you are asking the question,” Barrett said. “But, again, I can’t pre-commit or say, ‘Yes, I’m going in with some agenda’ because I’m not. I don’t have any agenda. I have no agenda to try to overrule Casey.”
“I have an agenda to stick to the rule of law and decide cases as they come,” she added.
While Feinstein pressed for Barrett’s views “as a person,” the nominee remained consistent:
Senator, what I will commit is that I will obey all the rules of stare decisis, that if a question comes before me about whether Casey (Planned Parenthood v. Casey), or any other case, would be overruled, that I will follow the law of stare decisis, applying it as the court has articulated it, applying all the factors, reliance, workability, being undermined by later facts and law, all the standard factors.
“And I promise to do that for any issue that comes up — abortion or anything else. I’ll follow the law,” Barrett added.