August 09, 2005

NARAL Lies About Roberts

To learn about NARAL's dishonesty you can read TAM or FactCheck.org:

The ad is false.

And the ad misleads when it says Roberts supported a clinic bomber. It is true that Roberts sided with the bomber and many other defendants in a civil case, but the case didn't deal with bombing at all. Roberts argued that abortion clinics who brought the suit had no right use an 1871 federal anti-discrimination statute against anti-abortion protesters who tried to blockade clinics. Eventually a 6-3 majority of the Supreme Court agreed, too. Roberts argued that blockades were already illegal under state law.

The images used in the ad are especially misleading. The pictures are of a clinic bombing that happened nearly seven years after Roberts signed the legal brief in question.

"NARAL Falsely Accuses Supreme Court Nominee Roberts" [via Eugene Volokh]

UPDATE: Charmaine Yoest found that pro-abortion groups NOW and NARAL have taken hit in their pocketbooks since 1992, the "Year of the Woman." The false anti-Roberts ad may be their last gasp.

[Yes, I'm going update-crazy tonight.]