Catholics for Choice Hails Senate’s Confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 7, 2022
Contact: John Becker, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 203-0931
Email: jbecker@catholicsforchoice.org
Catholics for Choice Hails Senate’s Confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – Catholics for Choice, which uplifts and amplifies the voices of the majority of Catholics who believe in reproductive freedom, hailed the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court today by a 53-47 vote of the U.S. Senate. Justice-designate Jackson will fill the seat being vacated by retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer and become the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court in the history of the United States.
Catholics for Choice President Jamie L. Manson said:
“Catholics for Choice is thrilled to see the Senate stand on the right side of history – and make history – by confirming Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on our nation’s highest court. As the most highly qualified nominee in recent memory, the first public defender to sit on the Supreme Court since Justice Thurgood Marshall, and the first Black woman ever to do so, Justice-designate Jackson represents the best of this country and brings to the bench a combination of professional legal knowledge and personal lived experience that has been sorely missing.
“Justice-designate Jackson also embodies our nation’s highest ideals: despite receiving outrageous, and often downright racist, mistreatment during her confirmation hearing, she persevered, giving a masterclass in the Christian virtues of kindness, humility, and fortitude. The values she has expressed in both her hearings and her rulings align with our Catholic social justice values of human dignity and centering the lives of the most marginalized people, as well as maintaining a balanced and important separation between church and state. We have no doubt that she will protect fundamental rights like the right to abortion.
“Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be an absolutely crucial addition to the Supreme Court, joining at a time when the Court is poised to undermine, or even completely overturn, Roe v. Wade and end the right to abortion for millions of people across the country. We applaud pro-choice Catholics like President Biden, Senate Judiciary Chairman Durbin (D-IL), and committee members Sens. Leahy (D-VT) and Padilla (D-CA) for nominating Judge Jackson and leading the charge to confirm her. Moving forward, Catholics for Choice will continue to call on the Supreme Court to uphold basic human rights, and work with lawmakers to protect the rights of women and pregnant people by filling federal judicial vacancies with supporters of reproductive freedom and passing legislation that guarantees access to abortion care nationwide.”
Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to a person’s well-being and respect, and affirm the capacity of all people to make moral decisions about their lives.
