Hawley claims Democrats attacking faith in Supreme Court confirmation hearings

Oct. 13--ST. LOUIS -- U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, on Monday accused Democrats of attacking the Roman Catholic faith of Judge Amy Coney Barrett during the first day of Senate hearings on her potential confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hawley, an evangelical Christian and possible 2024 presidential candidate, seized on questions and comments to Barrett by Democratic senators to argue they were holding a religious test for public office, which the U.S. Constitution forbids.

"It is absolutely vital to continue to hold them accountable for their outrageous attacks on her faith, on her family, and on her Catholicism," Hawley said shortly after the hearing, in a press conference with other GOP senators and several conservative groups supporting Barrett's nomination.

No Democrat in the hearing explicitly referenced Barrett's faith or religion. Democrats instead warned that Barrett's confirmation would likely lead to the end of the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama's landmark health care law, and the reversal of settled Supreme Court cases that established same-sex marriage and abortion rights.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Nov. 10 a legal challenge by Republican-controlled states that argues the ACA is unconstitutional, based on Republican lawmakers' removal of a key provision requiring a tax penalty for people who don't carry insurance.

Hawley joined Missouri to the lawsuit in 2018 when he was state attorney general; his successor, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, has continued the state's involvement in the suit.

Hawley and U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, both back quick confirmation of Barrett to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18 from complications of pancreatic cancer.

Hawley said he would vote only for a nominee who has "explicitly acknowledged that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided." The landmark decision, handed down in 1973, established a woman's right to an abortion.

In the hearing Monday, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who spoke just before Hawley, cited both Roe and Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 case that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

"Judge Barrett, you will be deciding cases that have real daily impacts on the lives of millions of Americans," Coons said. "They deserve to understand why President Trump nominated you and what consequences your decision may have on them and their lives."

Coons also referenced a 1965 case, Griswold v. Connecticut, that ruled a Connecticut law restricting the sale of contraceptives violated the right to martial privacy established in the Obergefell decision. Coons, a Presbyterian whose wife is a practicing Catholic, made no explicit mention of Barrett's faith.

Hawley, in his remarks, said Coons' reference of the 1965 case was an attack on the Catholic teaching against contraception and just one example of Democrats' "pattern and practice of religious bigotry."

"I just heard my colleague, Senator Coons, make a reference to an old case, the Griswold case, which I can only assume is another hit at Judge Barrett's religious faith, referring to Catholic doctrinal beliefs," Hawley said. "I don't know what else it could be since no one has challenged this case. It's not a live issue and has not been for decades."

Hawley also referred to a comment made by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., during hearings in 2017 to confirm Barrett's appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Feinstein said at the time that when one reads Barrett's speeches, "the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that's of concern."

Hawley said Monday, "The ranking member referred to your Catholic convictions as 'dogma' -- that's a quote -- 'that lives loudly within you,' picking up the very terminology of anti-Catholic bigotry current in this country a century ago."

The Senate hearing continues Tuesday.

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