As a U.S. deputy solicitor general under the first Bush administration, John Roberts filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic arguing that the Civil Rights Act of 1871, enacted to protect African Americans from discrimination after the Civil War, did not prohibit peaceful pro-life demonstrators from standing outside of abortion clinics. The Bray case involved a lawsuit by the National Organization for Women against Operation Rescue, a group of peaceful pro-life protestors, for obstructing the entrance of an abortion clinic in Alexandria, Virginia. In a 6-3 decision, the Court sided with Roberts' reasoning that the protestors were objecting to abortion rather than that the clients entering the clinic were women. [source: CWA Press Release]
Leading abortion advocacy group NARAL has released a new television commercial attacking Roberts for his participation in the Bray case and implying he supports abortion-related violence. The ads features a victim of a bombing at an abortion facility and cites his legal work on behalf of activist pro-life group that engages in protests outside abortion businesses. [Source: LifeNews]
The ad includes the following exchange its characters:
Announcer: "Seven years ago a bomb destroyed a woman's health clinic In Birmingham, Alabama.""NARAL's implication that John Roberts' defense of peaceful protests in Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic somehow shows that he condones abortion clinic bombers is outrageous," said Wendy Wright, CWA's senior policy director. "Last January, nine members of the National Organization for Women (NOW) were arrested outside the headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for obstructing the agency's entrance during protests over the pending decision on the morning-after pill. According to NARAL's faulty logic, NOW would be just as guilty of inciting violence through their peaceful protests. Observers of the NOW protest remarked how similar NOW's protests were to sit-ins by pro-life demonstrators 15 years ago."Lyons: "The bomb ripped my clinic. I almost lost my life. I will never be the same."
Announcer: "Supreme Court nominee John Roberts filed court briefs supporting violent fringe groups and a convicted clinic bomber."
Lyons: "I am determined to stop this violence, so I'm speaking out."
The Committee for Justice, which defends and promotes constitutionalist judicial nominees, responded similarly to the NARAL attack ad. "To associate a man of John Roberts' character and integrity with criminals is simply deceitful," C. Boyden Gray, CFJ Chairman said. "It says more about NARAL than it does about John Roberts," Gray added. "There is a whiff of desperation about this ad."
"NARAL's press release compounds the injury by dishonestly stating, 'we are not suggesting Mr. Roberts condones or supports clinic violence,' when that of course is exactly what their ad does," Gray added.
An excellent analysis of the ad was done by John from PowerlineBlog who concluded,
So NARAL misrepresents the Bray case in every particular. Roberts didn't "support violent fringe groups" or a "convicted clinic bomber." He supported the federal government's position on a specific question of law--correctly, as the Court found.Pro-life bloggers have responded in force and are summarized in JivinJ's round-up.
Update: Jeremy at Parableman points out the irony of NARAL's false ad. He states:
It's too bad they don't realize that they've just condemned the very reason for the existence of their group. Whatever else abortion is, it's clearly violence against a developing human organism. The whole point of their group is to defend violence. If they really wanted to criticize those who excuse some of the most hidden violence in the country, they should go after themselves.Read the entire post here.
FactCheck is upfront: "The ad is false".
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