Media Alert: Charmaine Quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Congressional Quarterly, Roll Call, United Press International, Chicago Tribune, HotAir

Washington Wire, Political Insight and Analysis From The Wall Street Journal’s Capital Bureau, Judicial Advocacy Groups Prepare for Supreme Court Battle, Susan Davis reports on politics,

Judicial advocacy groups are already drawing battle lines for a Supreme Court fight following news that Justice David Souter will retire at the end of the term.

Americans United for Life, a group that opposes abortion rights, said they will oppose any nominee who supports the Freedom of Choice Act to “elevate abortion to a fundamental right on the same place as the freedom of speech,” said president Dr. Charmaine Yoest. Adding: “Justice Souter’s retirement also represents a test for the Senate: will they uphold their duty to raise serious questions over a nominee’s judicial philosophy?”

Posturing on Supreme Court Pick Continues; No Selection Likely This Week

By Seth Stern, CQ Staff

Republicans warned Tuesday against rushing a Supreme Court nominee through the Senate, even as Democrats said no announcement of a successor to Justice David H. Souter would come this week.

In timing his first nomination to the nation’s highest court, President Obama is balancing competing political imperatives: He needs to wait long enough that key senators in both parties feel that he seriously entertained their suggestions and weighed their advice. But waiting too long would give his conservative critics the opportunity to mobilize and to attack potential candidates pre-emptively — making it more difficult for the Senate to confirm a new justice prior to the August recess….

Conservative activists urged Republicans not to allow Democrats to rush the process. Charmaine Yoest, [Ph.D.] president of Americans United for Life, urged Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the Judiciary Committee’s new ranking Republican, “to begin your role as ranking minority member by putting the brakes on rushing through a Supreme Court nominee.”

Political Fight Already Brewing Over Souter Retirement, By John Stanton, Roll Call Staff, Reports: Supreme Court Justice David Souter to Retire at End of Term

Battle lines over President Barack Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee were quickly solidifying Friday morning, even as the White House and Capitol Hill continued to wait for the official word that Justice David Souter would retire this summer…

While politicians at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue may be waiting to comment until Obama receives a formal communication on Souter’s intentions, interest groups were wasting no time drawing lines in the sand over a looming Senate confirmation fight.

Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, warned in a statement Friday morning that anti-abortion-rights organizations would vigorously oppose any nominee that interprets the Constitution to include protections for abortion.

“We will work to oppose any nominee for the Supreme Court who will read the Freedom of Choice Act into the Constitution in order to elevate abortion to a fundamental right on the same plane as the freedom of speech. In his search for a replacement for Justice Souter, President Obama should avoid a pro-abortion litmus test,” Yoest said.

Marge Baker, executive vice president at People for the American Way, urged Obama to stick by his campaign pledge to tap nominees who bring a level of empathy for minorities, the poor and women.

UPI, Abortion key issue in replacing Souter,

WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) — Abortion rights will occupy a prominent place in the political battle to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, say those on each side of the issue.

“Without a doubt, opponents of women’s freedom and privacy will use a vacancy on the court as an opportunity to further their attacks on nominees who have taken pro-choice positions, ” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group.

Difficulties encountered by several of President Barack Obama’s choices for federal posts prove anti-abortion groups retain the power to derail the president’s agenda, despite the Democratic majority in Congress, said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life.

“This new administration and the congressional majority may support radical abortion rights, but the American people as a whole do not,” Yoest said.

Supreme Court Justice David Souter: Lines drawn before anyone is chosen as a potential successor; Nominee prospects already shadowed by abortion debate, Chicago Tribune, By James Oliphant, Washington Bureau,

WASHINGTON — A full-scale battle on Capitol Hill over the next Supreme Court nominee could still be months away, but small skirmishes have been taking place all year…

Groups that oppose abortion rights have been testing their political viability since Obama took office, and they say the difficulties encountered by Johnsen and others show they retain the power to derail the Obama agenda, despite large Democratic majorities.

“This new administration and the congressional majority may support radical abortion rights, but the American people as a whole do not,” said Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life. “Canny political observers and politicians know this.”

HotAir,

Pro-life group to Leahy: Reject judicial activism in Souter replacement, by Ed Morrissey,

One of the organizers of the Justice Sunday rallies in 2005 has sent a letter to the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee demanding that Patrick Leahy ensure against confirming a judicial activist to replace David Souter. Dr. Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life reminds Leahy that Americans around the country have put reasonable restrictions on abortion, and that any judge that would undo those through legislative fiat should not get sent to the highest court…

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Jack and Charmaine also blog at Reasoned Audacity. Your Business Blogger(R) of Management Training of DC, LLC, is an adjunct professor of business at the Northern Community College and is a licensed agent for the William Oncken Corporation, presenters of Managing Management Time(TM) fondly known as Monkey Management.

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