Brett Kavanaugh in 2018: "I understand the importance of the precedent set forth in Roe v. Wade."
Kavanaugh in 2022: *set to overturn Roe v. Wade*
Kavanaugh in 2022: *set to overturn Roe v. Wade*
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00:00I understand the importance of the precedent set forth in Roe v. Wade.
00:07Roe v. Wade is an important precedent.
00:09It's a precedent in the United States Supreme Court.
00:11Roe v. Wade clearly held that the Constitution protected a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy.
00:32Senator, I think that the Supreme Court has made clear that the issue of marital privacy is protected.
00:42So Roe v. Wade held, of course, and it's reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood v. Casey,
00:49that a woman has a constitutional right to obtain an abortion before viability.
00:54I don't have any agenda. I have no agenda to try to overrule Casey.
00:59I have an agenda to stick to the rule of law and decide cases as they come.
01:03Well, the holding of Roe v. Wade in 30 seconds, Senator, is that a woman has a right to an abortion.
01:11Roe v. Wade is an important precedent of the Supreme Court.
01:15It was decided in 1973, so it's been on the books for a long time.
01:20It has been challenged on a number of occasions, and the Supreme Court has reaffirmed the decision.
01:26I think that when a decision is challenged and it is reaffirmed, that strengthens its value.
01:32Can you tell me whether Roe was decided correctly?
01:36Senator, again, I would tell you that Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, is a precedent of the United States Supreme Court.
01:44It was reaffirmed in Casey in 1992, and in several other cases.
01:49So a good judge will consider it as precedent of the United States Supreme Court, worthy as treatment of precedent, like any other.
01:57That I do see as distinct my personal, moral, religious views, and my task of applying the law as a judge.
02:04Do I have, this day, an opinion, a personal opinion, on the outcome in Roe v. Wade?
02:11And my answer to you is that I do not.
02:14What about the right of a woman to determine when and whether she becomes pregnant?
02:21The court has held that while that right is not expressed in the Due Process Clause, that it is implied.
02:26And the court has reiterated that. Griswold was the foundation of Roe, and the court has adhered to that view for many, many years.
02:33And you would adhere, stringently and faithfully, to that precedent?
02:37I absolutely would, Senator Blumenthal.
02:39Frankly, I'm terrified that if we turn the clock back on legal abortion services, women will once again be forced to resort to brutal and illegal abortions.
02:49I want to ask you, once again, appealing to your sense of compassion, to whether or not you believe the Constitution protects a woman's right to abortion.
02:59If a woman is subjected to the agony of an environment like that, on a personal level, certainly, I am very, very pained by that.
03:10I think any of us would be.
03:13I wouldn't want to see people subjected to torture of that nature.