Washington D.C., May 8, 2008 / 04:12 am
In a Tuesday speech that could have significant ramifications for the pro-life cause, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain pledged to use President George W. Bush’s Supreme Court appointees as a “model” for his own choices.
He also announced the formation of a committee to advise him on such judicial appointments, which have greatly affected the legal status of abortion in the United States.
The Washington Post reports that Senator McCain spoke on Tuesday before a crowd of several hundred at Wake Forest University. He decried what he called “the common and systematic abuse of our federal courts by the people we entrust with judicial power.” The Arizona senator also said that Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. “would serve as the model for my own nominees, if that responsibility falls to me.”
Both of the justices appointed by President Bush are believed to oppose the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Some observers believe only one more Supreme Court justice opposed to the decision must be appointed for Roe v. Wade to be overturned.