The Manhattan Declaration

Monday, April 13, 2009

Pro-Abortion Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Says Foreign Law OK for Legal Decisions


Pro-Abortion Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Says Foreign Law OK for Legal Decisions
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) --
In comments that signal enormous concerns for the pro-life movement, pro-abortion Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has conducted an interview with the New York Times in which she explains why she believes the rulings of foreign judges should be considered in interpreting US constitutional and statutory law. The concern for the pro-life community is that the use of foreign laws and rulings by international courts could promote abortion and euthanasia in the United States by relying on courts and laws that more strongly support those practices. "Why shouldn't we look to the wisdom of a judge from abroad with at least as much ease as we would read a law review article written by a professor?" she asked. She added that the failure to engage foreign decisions had resulted in diminished influence for the United States Supreme Court. The Canadian Supreme Court, she said, is "probably cited more widely abroad than the U.S. Supreme Court." There is one reason for that, she said: "You will not be listened to if you don’t listen to others." Wesley J. Smith, a bioethics attorney and euthanasia watchdog responds: “We are supposed to care whether Canadian rulings--which hew sharply to the left--are cited by foreign judges more than those of the US Supreme Court? We are supposed to care if another country's courts interprets its laws and constitution the way we do ours? Our judges are supposed to be diplomats to make other countries feel we respect their views? Baloney. This is an excuse for a power grab.” Smith says Ginsburg and her pro-abortion colleagues want to “remake society according to their own personal views.” He concludes: “The foreign cases that the former head of the ACLU Ginsberg cites will only be the ones with which she agrees--generally from Western Europe or Canada, that reflect her leftist views.

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