Planned Parenthood Condemns Committee Vote to Support Amy Coney Barrett

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 -- The Planned Parenthood Federation of America issued the following news release:

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to confirm the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett as a judge for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America released the following statement:

Statement from Dana Singiser, Vice President for Government Relations and Public Policy, Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

"Planned Parenthood strongly condemns the Senate Judiciary Committee vote in support of Amy Coney Barrett for the 7th Circuit. Individual rights and freedom go to the heart of who we are as a country, including the right to access safe and legal abortion. A judicial nominee who does not believe in that freedom is dangerous to the health care of people across this country. As a leading healthcare provider, we've see firsthand what it means for people who are forced to cross state lines, travel hundreds of miles, or wait for weeks to get an abortion -- if they can at all -- due to medically unnecessary restrictions intended to block access to health care. People in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana deserve a judge who will consider their individual rights and freedoms ​and follow precedent.

"We call on every United States senator to uphold a fundamental standard: If you oppose Roe v. Wade and continue to deny women access to birth control, you are not fit to sit on the bench. ​Highly qualified judges are those who defend the rights and freedoms of Americans. Planned Parenthood Federation of America urges senators to reject the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the 7th Circuit."

Planned Parenthood Federation of America submitted a formal letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing Amy Coney Barrett's nomination.

Barrett has been a very active and vocal opponent of reproductive rights. For example, Barrett's nomination questionnaire states that she was a member of the Notre Dame's Faculty for Life Group from 2010 to 2016. This group describes itself as "organized to promote research, dialogue, and publication by faculty, administration, and staff who respect the sacred value of human life from its inception to natural death in the spirit embodied in Evangelium Vitae and Caritas in Veritate and are committed to the legal and societal recognition of the value of all human life."

Barrett has held overwhelmingly critical views of the Roe v. Wade decision due to "her own conviction that life begins at conception." She also stated that she believes Roe was "creat(ed) through judicial fiat a framework of abortion on demand" that "ignited a national controversy."

Barrett has also been consistently critical of the Affordable Care Act's requirement that employers provide contraceptive coverage as part of their employer-sponsored health insurance plans. For example, Barrett signed a letter authored by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty that objected to the Obama administration's accommodation for religiously affiliated employers that allowed them to avoid having to directly inform their employees about contraceptive coverage. The letter suggested that the Obama administration was "morally obtuse" for failing to go far enough to accommodate religious liberty.