Amy Coney Barrett’s Confirmation Signals New Chapter for Catholics and Legal Abortion

National Catholic Register, 27 October 2020

The story of abortion law in the United States for the last 40 years is very much a story about Catholics in public life.

The late-night swearing in of Justice Amy Coney Barrett by Justice Clarence Thomas, the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court, on Monday was a story not just about lawyers, but about Catholics and America’s abortion law.

Barrett and Thomas will be the most well-known Catholics on the court, which now has six Catholic justices — seven if Neil Gorsuch is counted, as he was baptized Catholic though he now worships at an Episcopal congregation. The two remaining justices are Jewish.

There is more to it than that, with high drama, given that Joe Biden may become only the second Catholic president of the United States in a week’s time.

The story of abortion law in the United States for the last 40 years is very much a story about Catholics in public life. On the Supreme Court side, the key players have been the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Thomas, rejected nominee Robert Bork and his replacement, the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. On the political side, the key players were the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy and Biden.

Continue reading at the National Catholic Register.