Judiciary Democrats question DOJ over Barrett’s abortion ad omission

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are asking the Justice Department for answers over a 2006 anti-abortion newspaper ad that was left out of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s materials provided to the committee as part of her Supreme Court nomination.

The 10 Democrats on the panel sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Beth Williams, saying that the absence of the ad in the materials given to the committee “raises concerns that the process of collecting materials responsive to the SJQ, like the nomination process itself, has been rushed, for no legitimate reason.”

“We ask that you explain the omission, confirm whether any other materials have been omitted, and immediately provide those materials for the Committee’s review,” they added in the letter, which was led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, and signed by the other nine Democratic senators.

Barrett added her name to a list supporting a statement in a 2006 newspaper insert opposing “abortion on demand” and supporting the “right to life.”

The statement, which appeared in the South Bend Tribune, was sponsored by a group called the Saint Joseph County Right to Life. The organization also placed an ad on the opposite page from the insert that called for putting “an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade and restore laws that protect the lives of unborn children.” 

Democrats are expected to home in on Barrett’s view on Roe v. Wade, and health care more broadly, during a days-long hearing set to start on Monday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

The White House previously defended the exclusion of the ad from the materials provided to the committee. 

“Nominees are only required to disclose materials they ‘wrote or edited,’ and Judge Barrett neither wrote nor edited this ad,” Ben Williamson, a senior White House communications advisor, tweeted.