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WHAT’S AT STAKE FOR WOMEN WITH A ROBERTS CONFIRMATION TO THE SUPREME COURT?
AUDIO PRESS BRIEFING AUGUST 23, 2005

Statement of Linda Basch, Ph.D., President,
The National Council for Research on Women

Welcome to our press briefing of women experts. I’m Linda Basch, president of The National Council for Research on Women. Our 103 member centers are leading women’s university research and policy centers located throughout the United States .

Debates about what John Roberts’ legal record could mean for women and girls are reverberating among scholars and experts across the country. In analyzing his record closely, our members have serious, substantive concerns about Roberts’ nomination particularly in light of information on his decisions and views that continues to surface.

In this briefing today, we will hear academic scholars and legal experts address what’s at stake for women with a new appointment to the Supreme Court. We also want you to know that as a Council of 103 centers nationwide, we can connect you to local experts in your areas. Our goal is to provide analysis from our members and our colleagues in academia so that public policy and legal decisions are based on facts, rather than assumptions about women and girls’ lives.

We have called this press briefing because just as John Roberts deserves a full hearing, so do the concerns of women. We have struggled vigorously over the past three decades to level the playing field for women and girls, and securing legal rights has been critical to these gains. We cannot afford to have any Supreme Court justices confirmed, who will turn back the clock on women’s rights or any other civil liberties that our country has worked so hard to forge.

We are urging Senators to vigilantly protect the gains that women have made and to preserve our rights going forward. Moreover, as a nation that articulates a vision of democracy for all, we need to closely examine Roberts’ views on all matters of civil rights and justice. Supreme Court Justices are confirmed for life. Any nominee who is confirmed has the power not only to affect a generation of laws but a generation of women and men.

The news stories about John Roberts have focused on his legal arguments on reproductive rights. His statements on Roe v. Wade have rightfully sounded an alarm among women across the country. Now we are hearing deeply disturbing stories on his views on pay equity and women’s roles in the workplace. In this briefing, we will address these critical issues, including his views on Title IX, employment practices, violence against women, reproductive rights and the right to privacy. During the upcoming hearings, senators must fully vet Roberts’ views and legal stances on these issues so that these critical rights remain secure.

In election after election, women are often the key swing voters. Today women are not only watching the senate, but also are assessing whether those they elected are representing their interests and safeguarding their rights. We want senators to remember women not only on Election Day, but everyday. We ask that senators listen to the concerns of women and give the time and deliberation necessary to ensure that women’s rights remain intact and safe from ideologies that could compromise women’s equality.

To provide you with a substantive analysis both of Roberts’ record and the views of the American public on the nomination process, we have four national experts from our network who have researched, argued in court, and written about the rights of women.

• Nancy Belden, who will begin the discussion, is the immediate past president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research and currently a partner in Belden Russonello & Stewart.

• Following Nancy Belden will be Ellen Chesler, historian and author of A Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America and Senior Fellow at the Open Society Institute.

• Following Ellen Chesler will be Jocelyn Frye , Director of Legal and Public Policy at the National Partnership for Women and Families.

• Deborah Rhode, Professor at Stanford Law School and Director of the Stanford Center on Ethics, will close.

The National Council for Research on Women is a network of 103 leading US women’s research and policy centers, with a growing international reach. The Council uses the power and knowledge of a women’s research network to inform debate, policies, and practices, and build a more inclusive and equitable world for women and girls .

To find NCRW experts on this issue, CLICK HERE
To find NCRW experts by area of expertise, CLICK HERE
To find NCRW experts in your area, CLICK HERE

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