Planned Parenthood Action Fund on Boggs Nomination
For Immediate Release: Sept. 22, 2014
WASHINGTON, DC -- Planned Parenthood Action Fund has issued the following statement in response to a New York Times report that the U.S. District Court nomination of Michael Boggs will likely not move forward, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Planned Parenthood Action Fund joined a diverse coalition in opposing Boggs’ nomination due to his troubling record and agenda on women’s health and other issues in the Georgia General Assembly.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund president Cecile Richards released the following statement today:
“We welcomed today’s report that Michael Boggs’ nomination is ‘dead.' With attacks on a woman’s fundamental right to safe, legal abortion from anti-women’s health legislators at the federal and state levels at an all-time high, the need for balanced courts with judges that take a fair-minded approach to the issues that come before them has never been greater. We applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chairman Leahy for taking into consideration a growing list of concerns from a variety of organizations, spanning women’s health, civil rights, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality, about the Boggs nomination. This should send an important message that nominees who hold extreme views cannot get the votes for a lifetime position in the federal judiciary.
“As the leading women’s health care advocate, we see the critical role that courts play in protecting and upholding a woman’s constitutional right to privacy, including privacy when she is considering safe and legal abortion. All nominees to the federal bench should be closely scrutinized to determine if they will take a fair-minded approach to the issues that come before them.”
While in the Georgia General Assembly, Boggs cast votes that would have turned back the clock on women’s access to safe and legal abortion and birth control and endangered doctors. Boggs also co-sponsored legislation that would have directed funds to organizations intent on shaming and judging women facing deeply personal and often complex decisions about their pregnancies. It is Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s opinion that Boggs’ personal views on abortion would have interfered with his ability to follow Supreme Court precedent and the Constitution.
In February, Planned Parenthood, alongside nearly 30 organizations, signed on to a letter opposing the Boggs nomination. The letter reads, in part:
“During his time as a legislator in the Georgia General Assembly, Boggs demonstrated a troubling lack of concern for individuals whose experience and personal history differ from his own, creating a record that lacks a demonstrated commitment to fairness and equal justice with respect to issues of reproductive freedom, civil rights, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality.”