The Biden administration is dropping plans to nominate a pro-life lawyer backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (R) to a federal court seat.
The nominee, Chad Meredith, successfully defended Kentucky’s pro-life law as a lawyer for the state, The New York Times reported. Biden’s plan to nominate Meredith was made public shortly before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month (via The New York Times):
Mr. McConnell, the minority leader, who has a deep interest in shaping the federal judiciary, said the White House intended to follow through on its commitment to nominate Mr. Meredith until Mr. Paul objected. Mr. Paul informed the White House that he would not return a “blue slip” consenting to the nomination of Mr. Meredith, who is now in private practice.
The blue slip tradition followed by the Senate Judiciary Committee effectively gives home-state senators veto power over the selection of federal district court judges for their states.
“In considering potential district court nominees, the White House learned that Senator Rand Paul will not return a blue slip on Chad Meredith,” Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said Friday in a statement. “Therefore, the White House will not nominate Mr. Meredith.”
The Times noted that Senate Democrats were “displeased” with the potential nomination of Meredith, especially after Roe fell.
Pro-abortion organization NARAL Pro-Choice America issued a statement praising the Biden administration for not moving forward with the nomination.
“We’re pleased that the Biden administration made this decision—it’s the right call. With abortion rights and access on the line in Kentucky and across the country, it is absolutely essential that all judges defend and uphold our fundamental rights and freedoms, including reproductive freedom," President Mini Timmaraju said in the statement.
This month, President Biden signed an executive order over abortion access. A fact sheet published by the White House claimed Biden “has committed to doing everything in his power to defend reproductive rights and protect access to safe and legal abortion.”
Townhall covered how Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services came out with a website, ReproductiveRights.gov, to direct women, including minors, toward resources to obtain an abortion.
Biden's efforts to expand abortion access came after the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. In the majority opinion, the Justices wrote that the U.S. Constitution does not protect the right to abortion and determined that Roe and Casey were wrongly decided.
“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” the opinion stated.
“Like the infamous decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, Roe was also egregiously wrong and on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided. Casey perpetuated its errors, calling both sides of the national controversy to resolve their debate, but in doing so, Casey necessarily declared a winning side. Those on the losing side—those who sought to advance the State’s interest in fetal life—could no longer seek to persuade their elected representatives to adopt policies consistent with their views. The Court short-circuited the democratic process by closing it to the large number of Americans who disagreed with Roe.”
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