An e-mail that went out from the Feminist Majority tonight:

Dear Feminist Activist,
The right to a safe, legal abortion is on the line with Harriet Miers’ nomination to fill Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court. With the O’Connor seat as the fifth vote on not only abortion, but many issues important to women and minorities, the public, especially women, deserves to know much more about Harriet Miers and her views on the issues.
Whoever fills Justice O’Connor’s seat is the crucial fifth vote. On November 30, that vote could be put to the test. The Supreme Court will hear three abortion-related cases on that day.
This is it – the battle we have all been dreading. Harriet Miers could be the crucial fifth vote that first takes away the health exception requiring any state or federal abortion restriction to have an exception to protect women’s health, then eventually to overrule Roe itself.
Right now, we who care about a woman’s right to choose an abortion have reason to be alarmed – this is a sampling of why:
Miers answered “yes” to an item on a 1989 Texans United for Life questionnaire asking “If Congress passes a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution that would prohibit abortion except when it was necessary to prevent the death of the mother, would you actively support its ratification by the Texas Legislature?”
Lorlee Bartos, Miers’ campaign manager in 1989 when she ran for Dallas City Council, told USA Today that Miers told her she used to be pro-choice, but a “profound, born-again experience” changed her mind — “She is on the extreme end of the anti-choice movement,” Bartos said.
Nathan Hecht, an ultra-conservative Texas Supreme Court Justice and Miers’ on-again, off-again boyfriend, said, “I know she is pro-life. She thinks that after conception, it’s not a balancing act — or if it is, it’s a balancing of two equal lives.” ( Washington Post 10/5/05)
James Dobson of Focus on the Family, who “welcome[s] the president’s nomination,” said, “Some of what I know I am not at liberty to talk about … I have reason to believe she is pro-life.” (New York Times 10/4/05; Washington Post 10/4/05)
President Bush implied during his October 4 press conference he never sat down and discussed the abortion issue with Miers (during the last decade he has known her well). Of course, Bush’s comment does not pass the laugh test. Remember, Clarence Thomas said he never discussed the abortion issue with anyone before his hearings.
As president of the National Organization for Women, I testified in favor of Sandra Day O’Connor as the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court after becoming convinced that, although she was a conservative, she would not retreat on some basic fundamental rights for women and people of color.
Today, however, even more is at stake than there was when Sandra Day O’Connor went on the Court. Today we know that reproductive rights (access to both birth control and abortion), Title IX, affirmative action, and equal protection for women under the law could be on the line. With the O’Connor seat as the decisive vote on numerous 5-4 decisions, the public, especially women, deserves to know what the judicial philosophy of Harriet Miers is.
Too much is at stake to take a risk on a Supreme Court nominee with little to no paper trail.
That’s why your Feminist Majority, and the National Organization for Women, are launching a campaign to urge Senators, “Vote NO If You Don’t Know.”
We cannot accept another ‘kabuki dance’ confirmation hearing where Senators ask tough questions on Roev. Wade and the right to privacy, the nominee refuses to answer, and the Senators move on. Senators must not only ask tough questions, but they must demand answers on fundamental human rights, especially women’s rights, issues.
If Harriet Miers will not say where she stands on Roe and the right to privacy, or if she is opposed to these rights, the Feminist Majority and the National Organization for Women are prepared to lead the opposition to her confirmation.
The Feminist Majority and NOW are planning a series of Speak-Outs for Women’s Lives in Washington, DC as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares for Miers’ confirmation hearings. Speak-Outs will occur on October 26, 27, 28 and November 1, 2, 3, and 6, 7, 8. These dates are Tuesday through Thursday of each week, so you will be able to visit your Senators and stress the importance of knowing Miers’ position on Roe.
We are also encouraging all those who care about women’s rights to visit their Senators’ district offices or to call their Senators to voice their concerns. (The Senate switchboard number is (202) 224-3121.)
We need you to join us in Washington, DC . Many of you Marched for Women’s Lives in April 2004 to sound the alarm that reproductive rights are in jeopardy. It is time to make our voices heard again.
For Women’s Lives,
Eleanor Smeal
President
Feminist Majority