GOP Justice Pat Fischer Joins J.D. Vance on the Shameful List of Republicans Comparing Abortion to Slavery
July 29, 2022
Columbus, OH — Today, Cleveland.com broke a report that Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat Fischer made comments comparing abortion to slavery earlier this month at the Delaware City Republican Club. Fischer’s remarks come after J.D. Vance also compared abortion to slavery following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe in what’s become a disgusting pattern for Republicans.
“Critics are blasting Ohio Supreme Court Justice Patrick Fischer, a Republican seeking reelection, for comparing abortion to slavery and segregation in recent remarks before a group of Republicans outside Columbus. Fischer spoke at the Delaware City Republican Club on July 14 in which he compared Roe v. Wade to a pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that upheld slavery and segregation,” writes Laura Hancock for Cleveland.com.
Fischer also made comments about Roe and offered his thoughts on the case, raising ethical questions since Fischer would likely hear abortion cases if he would be reelected to the bench.
“Justice Fischer’s comments were nothing short of disgusting, and he – like J.D. Vance – should apologize immediately. With his remarks, Justice Fischer demonstrated just how extreme and out-of-touch the Court will become if the Republicans running are reelected. Ohioans are once again reminded that the stakes of November’s elections couldn’t be higher,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.
Read more here and below:
- Critics are blasting Ohio Supreme Court Justice Patrick Fischer, a Republican seeking reelection, for comparing abortion to slavery and segregation in recent remarks before a group of Republicans outside Columbus.
- Fischer spoke at the Delaware City Republican Club on July 14 in which he compared Roe v. Wade to a pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that upheld slavery and segregation.
- “Ladies and gentlemen, do you know what substantive due process is? It would take me hours to go into it,” he said. “But you know what it’s the basis for? The Dred Scott decision. Not good. It’s the basis for Plessy v. Ferguson. Not good. And it was the basis for Roe v. Wade.”
- In Ohio, J.D. Vance, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, told the Catholic Current that abortion and slavery were comparable, “and that while the people who obviously suffer the most are those subjected to it, I think it has this morally distorting effect on the entire society.”
- By the end of the year, the Ohio General Assembly and Gov. Mike DeWine are expected to push forward a bill generally outlawing abortion in most cases in the state. Fischer’s remarks were in response to an audience member at the Delaware City Republican Club, who asked if abortion rights will be determined by the Ohio Supreme Court next year.
- Fischer noted that the state’s judicial conduct rules prevent him from talking directly about cases. The Ohio Supreme Court has an abortion case before it, with abortion rights groups asking the court to overturn the so-called fetal “heartbeat” bill.
- However, Fischer did share some thoughts, explaining that when he was dating his wife 38 years ago, he felt the same way: that the legal argument behind Roe v. Wade, known as substantive due process, was weak.
- “But I told her that if you ever got enough people with guts, that would theoretically — on a theory, on a legal theoretical basis — easily (be) overturned,” said Fischer, who graduated from Harvard Law School with honors.
- “I think it’s troubling that there’s this comparison to a fetus,” she said. “People who were enslaved were actual living, breathing individuals, fully developed and able to make decisions for themselves and were denied the rights to have personal autonomy and self-determination… It infantilizes Black people in an inappropriate and disrespectful way.”
- The Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct cautions judges about making pledges, promises and commitments, since there’s “the overarching judicial obligation to apply and uphold the law without regard to his or her personal views.”
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