When Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' cast the deciding vote striking down a Louisiana law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of a clinic, that showed how important this fall's presidential election is, Senate Minority Whip Steve Scalise told Newsmax TV Tuesday.
If people didn't know just how much is at stake this November, this case reminds you one more time," the Louisiana Republican said on Newsmax TV's "Spicer & Co." "This was a five-four decision. Keep in mind John Roberts ruled on a similar case just four years ago, and he ruled that basically you can have higher standards for anybody who performs an abortion and then he reversed course on this."
Roberts and the other justices take an oath to uphold the Constitution, Scalise added, but not to uphold "prior flawed decisions of other courts."
The case was similar to another case in Texas in 2016, which also struck down a law requiring nearby hospital admitting privileges, which Roberts had also ruled on, but Scalise argued that Roberts knows the Constitution says a state can require that "proper health standards" be in place for women.
"He threw that in the trash can yesterday," said Scalise. "This wasn't about a woman who was denied any kind of health standards. It was brought by an abortion doctor."
Show host Sean Spicer noted that there are many who say the ruling was a blow to the pro-life movement, but he believes that it was "actually making" the Roe v. Wade decision safer.
Spicer also insisted that while Trump is planning to release a list of potential Supreme Court justice nominees, presumptive Democrat nominee Joe Biden said Tuesday he won't do that "because he would have to show how crazy left the judges he would pick would be."
"Biden is scared to death of showing people who we would put on the Supreme Court, because on everything else he has moved so far to the Socialist left, Scalise said, while agreeing with Spicer. "He is not liberal anymore. He's literally embracing the Socialist agenda."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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