Pro-life activists urge Nelson to confirm Supreme Court nominee
Dozens of pro-life activists rallied in front of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s offices on Monday to urge confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Members of the Pro-Life Court Coalition showed up at his offices in West Palm Beach in the morning and in Downtown Fort Myers in the afternoon for a press conference, all part of a swing that will take the group to Nelson’s offices in Gainesville, Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Pensacola over the next few days.
The group was led by Jill Stanek, national campaign chair of the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) and Laurie Lee, the group’s Florida state field director in a national drive to get Kavanaugh confirmed with the help of Democratic senators up for re-election this year, especially those they see as having poor records on voting.
“The president has the right to pick Kavanaugh and the people of America elected Donald Trump by and large to elect judges that are constitutionally sound,” Lee said. “This is a chance for the Supreme Court to segue to constitutionalist judges and not make laws from the bench.”
The press-conference had a rally feel to it as supporters booed when the names of Nelson, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and “the radical abortion lobby” came up and cheered for Trump, Kavanaugh and themselves, led on by Stanek.
A recent poll commissioned by the SBA List said 56 percent of Florida voters want Nelson to confirm Kavanaugh, and 54 percent believe abortion policy should be decided by the people of Florida through their elected officials, not the Supreme Court.
These are numbers Stanek jumped on.
“Sen. Nelson has a choice to make. Will he stand with Florida voters who showed their trust in President Trump or will he cave to Chuck Schumer (boos), Nancy Pelosi (more boos) and the abortion lobby?” Stanek said. “This pick could tip the balance on the court about abortion.”
Stanek said Democrats up for re-election, such as Nelson, are potentially amenable to backing Kavanaugh.
“President Trump is doing the job the voters elected him to do. We’re asking Sen. Nelson to do his job and confirm Judge Kavanaugh,” Stanek said, adding the United States is one of seven nations that allows elective abortions after 20 weeks, which she said the Washington Post fact-checked as being true.
About three dozen supporters, most carrying signs, took part in the Fort Myers event, a fraction of the roughly 3,000 who showed up at Nelson’s office Saturday for the Caloosahatchee Death March.
Lee said she isn’t too worried that people here seem more preoccupied by the water quality as it is also a pro-life issue.
“People value life and the water quality issues are a good segue to life,” Lee said. “People need water to sustain life. The life issue touches on every tenet of what people believe,” Lee said. “When people hear that Nelson voted for partial-birth abortions, they are shocked.”
The Susan B. Anthony List is a non-profit pro-life political organization that seeks to reduce and ultimately end abortion in the U.S. by supporting anti-abortion politicians, primarily women, and enact pro-life policy.