WASHINGTON, D.C., October 14, 2020 – During the second day of questioning, Amy Coney Barrett refused to answer even the most basic questions while insisting that she could not be held accountable for her own record.
Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron released the following statement:
“We know why Amy Coney Barrett’s notepad was empty — because she had nothing to say. When a Supreme Court nominee won’t even answer questions about whether a president can defy court orders, pardon himself, or delay the election, it’s an ominous sign for our democracy.
As if Barrett’s record on health care wasn’t damning enough, she wouldn’t even say if Medicare was constitutional. Unlike even other Republican-appointed justices, Barrett refused to affirm the privacy protections established by Griswold v. Connecticut, which speaks to access to birth control and undergirds the right to abortion and several other protections.
We know where Barrett stands on access to health care, abortion, and voting rights from her extensive written and spoken record. Her insistence she should not be held accountable for her past statements was not helped by her inability to answer any questions about anything.
The fact that Senate Republicans can look at two days of complete evasion and feel ready to confirm her speaks to what a sham process this is.
It’s telling that they have already planned to advance her confirmation before the hearings are even over.
In reality, these hearings were just for show — and they showed us Barrett must not be confirmed.”