Barrett tells Sen. Feinstein it would be wrong to express specific views on Roe v. Wade during hearing

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) utilized part of her time during the question-and-answer portion of Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Senate Judiciary Committee Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Tuesday to ask Barrett if she agreed with former Justice Antonin Scalia's view that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. Barrett replied that she "can't pre-commit" on any specific cases.

Feinstein made a similar push on other issues, including same-sex marriage, but Barrett didn't budge, invoking both the current Justice Elena Kagan — who she noted had declined to "grade precedent" during her confirmation hearing — and the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who set the standard of "no hints, no previews, no forecasts" before confirmation to the high court. Some observers were confused as to why the senator didn't zero in on the fact that Ginsburg did testify that the right to abortion was a constitutional one, and there was a sense she failed to "land any blows" during her questioning. Tim O'Donnell

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up