Planned Parenthood Calls for Pryor's Defeat

For Immediate Release: Jan. 30, 2014

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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today the Senate voted for cloture on the nomination of William H. Pryor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, by a count of 67 to 32, ending debate.

A confirmation vote is expected tomorrow. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) strongly urges the Senate to reject the former Alabama attorney general whose unyielding hostility to reproductive freedom would endanger women's health and safety. Pryor has repeatedly challenged the legitimacy of reproductive choice, calling Roe v. Wade "an abominable decision" that is "not constitutional law and gives almost no sense of an obligation to try to be."

"William Pryor gives new meaning to the term 'extremist judge,'" said PPFA Interim President Karen Pearl. "To show such contempt for the legal precedents that protect women's health and safety is appalling. Pryor on the federal bench for life would be horrible for women everywhere."

Pryor has also decried Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reaffirmed the principles of Roe v. Wade, as a decision that "preserved the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history." In 1999, as Alabama attorney general, Pryor supported the passage of a bill in the state's House of Representatives that would have permitted a judge hearing a minor's petition to seek an abortion without parental consent to appoint a guardian for the fetus — a direct attempt to interfere with young women's constitutional rights.

"Pryor has been an outspoken opponent of women's access to comprehensive health care," said PPFA Interim President Karen Pearl. "And he has made it clear that he feels the Constitution does not guarantee the freedoms and fundamental liberties that Americans need and cherish. The Senate should defeat his nomination on these grounds alone."