Trump’s Supreme Court supremo... the anti-abortion mother of seven
Standing at the White House with four of her seven children, this is the devout Catholic mother at the centre of the latest battle in the bitter US election.
amy Coney Barrett has been chosen by donald trump as the next Supreme Court judge, creating a clear Right-wing majority in america’s highest judicial authority.
appearing with the US President and her children, two of whom were adopted from Haiti, she said she would be ‘resolute’ in setting aside her personal beliefs amid fears she could back an abortion ban and oppose free healthcare.
Some democrats said Mrs Barrett, 48, was unsuitable for the position as she is a member of a sect which allegedly inspired
Margaret atwood’s dystopian novel the Handmaid’s tale.
Mrs Barrett has been a judge for only three years, having been appointed by Mr trump to the Court of appeals in 2017.
Her appointment to the Supreme Court would give it a 6-3 majority in favour of the Republicans.
it sets up an ugly confirmation hearing in the Senate on October 12 – just three weeks before the presidential election.
democrats accused Mr trump of rushing to appoint Mrs Barrett after the recent death of Left-leaning Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader ginsburg at the age of 87.
in a similar situation four years ago, Senate Republicans stopped president Obama appointing a Supreme Court judge as it was an election year – but have made no such objections to Mr trump. during a ceremony in the White House Rose garden on Saturday, Mr trump called Mrs Barrett ‘a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution’.
Mrs Barrett called herself ‘a room parent, carpool driver and birthday party planner’ in a nod to her large family. Some Republicans hope Mrs Barrett could help them overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that guarantees a woman’s right to an abortion.
the court could also ban president Obama’s healthcare law, weigh in on gay rights and, crucially, decide the outcome of any future contested US election.
She is a member of a sect called People of Praise where members are assigned a ‘handmaiden’, a personal adviser with whom they are encouraged to confess sins and financial information.
the group believes in divine healing and teaches that husbands are the heads of the family.
democrat Mazie Hirono, who sits on the Senate committee which will hold Mrs Barrett’s confirmation hearing, said she had an ‘ideological agenda’.
She said: ‘She has a long history of being anti-choice... a woman’s right to control her own body is at stake’.
‘Towering intellect’