Less than a week after the Supreme Court gave women across America the finger with the repeal of Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden is slated to nominate a Republican anti-abortion lawyer to a lifetime appointment as a federal judge in Kentucky in an alleged deal struck with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
As first reported by The Courier-Journal, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) and other sources say the done-deal nomination of Chad Meredith is intended to placate McConnell, who will supposedly pledge to not stall further federal nominations by the Biden White House. Meredith, a McConnell spokesperson and the White House all refused comment to the Louisville-based publication.
News of the alleged nomination comes as the Biden administration scrambles to address the rollback of abortion rights in a manner that will not appear politically polarizing to voters — you know, just in case you thought the Democrats were actually going to do something about the blatant attack on women’s personal autonomy instead of flooding your inbox with hundreds of spam fundraising emails a day.
According to Reuters, White House sources say Biden’s inner circle is concerned certain “radial moves” in response to Roe‘s reversal could have dire consequences for Democrats in the November midterms, as well as “undermine public trust in institutions like the Supreme Court.” Instead, insiders claim, Biden is committed to pursuing select policy responses and executive actions.
Apparently that commitment to women’s rights means ensuring a vacancy in the federal courts is filled by someone with a longstanding track record of working to eliminate abortion access for millions of women. Meredith is known to Kentuckians for defending a 2017 state law requiring doctors offering abortions to perform fetal ultrasounds — including showing or describing the image, as well as playing audio of the fetus’ heartbeat — on patients. (That law was upheld by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019.)
The Kentucky native is also an avowed member of the conservative Federalist Society, which boasts current Supreme Court Justices — and noted Roe adversaries — Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett among its members.
“Given that a judicial position isn’t currently open on the Eastern District Court, it’s clear that this is part of some larger deal on judicial nominations between the president and Mitch McConnell,” Yarmuth told the Courier-Journal. “I strongly oppose this deal and Meredith being nominated for the position. That last thing we need is another extremist on the bench.”
Source: RollingStone
