Senate Confirms Wendy Vitter, Lawyer Who Said Abortion Causes Cancer, To Lifetime Term As Federal Judge

On Thursday, May 16, the Senate confirmed Wendy Vitter, a lawyer who refused to say that Brown v. Board of Education was decided correctly, to the Eastern Louisiana federal District Court. Vitter, who previously served as general counsel to the Archdiocese of New Orleans, was asked last year during her confirmation if she thought that Brown, the landmark case that banned racial segregation in schools, was ruled correctly. Vitter dodged what should have been an easy question, instead responding that, “I think I can get into a difficult, difficult area when I start commenting on Supreme Court decisions — which are correctly decided and which I may disagree with.”

Vitter also has a messy history when it comes to abortion, heavily promoting an anti-choice pamphlet in 2013 that linked abortions to breast cancer. Vitter requested that conference members print out the pamphlet and ask their local anti-choice doctors to put the pamphlets in the doctors’ waiting rooms. That same brochure also claimed that taking birth control would lead to liver and cervical cancer, as well as adultery and violent death.

Vitter was confirmed to her lifetime post as a judge with a 52-45 Senate vote, with only Susan Collins (R-Maine) breaking with her party. Vitter’s appointment comes as part of the Trump administration’s aggressive campaign to pack the courts with conservative allies. While each administration only lasts at most eight years, judicial appointments are for life, ensuring that the Trump administration will continue to have an impact on the country for years to come.

The justice system has become increasingly polarized in recent years, with the current abortion laws edging towards a battle in the Supreme Court that will decide the fate of Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose. Six states have recently passed restrictive abortion bills that directly challenge the right to have an abortion enshrined in constitutional law. While the Supreme Court avoided making a majorly controversial ruling on a recent Indiana ban on abortion, it is only a matter of time until this issue reaches a climax.