Now that Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh has the votes to be confirmed by the US Senate, there is likely a 5-4 majority on the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade (depending on how Chief Justice John Roberts votes — more on him here and below).
Kavanaugh has, for the duration of his confirmation fight, pretended this isn't the case. “As a general proposition, I understand the importance of the precedent set forth in Roe v. Wade,” he told senators during his confirmation hearing. He reportedly told Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in private that he agrees with Chief Justice John Roberts, who called Roe settled law in his 2005 confirmation hearings. Both Collins, who supports Kavanaugh, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who opposes him, have said they think he won't vote to overturn Roe.
That's silly.
Kavanaugh's statement that he “understands the importance of the precedent” is, as my colleague Anna North explains, utterly meaningless. So too with his 2006 statement, during a confirmation hearing for the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, that he would “follow Roe v. Wadefaithfully and fully.”
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