Poll: Roberts' Abortion Stance of Interest

[jefferson_dem]

Poll: Roberts' Abortion Stance of Interest

By WILL LESTER
The Associated Press
Thursday, July 21, 2005; 10:51 AM

WASHINGTON -- More than half of Americans say Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts should be required to state his position on abortion before being confirmed, with women more likely than men to want such a declaration.

An AP-Ipsos poll taken just after President Bush chose the appeals court judge to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor found that most people don't know enough about Roberts to form an opinion. But among those who do, more view him favorably than unfavorably.

<SNIP>

Abortion is sure to come up at Roberts' Senate confirmation hearings and the survey found 52 percent believe he should give his position before lawmakers vote on him, while 42 percent said he should not. Women were more inclined to want to know his position _ 60 percent _ while only 43 percent of men felt similarly.

<SNIP>

Most of those surveyed _ 59 percent _ said they haven't heard enough about Roberts to form an opinion. Among those who had, 25 percent viewed him favorably and 14 percent unfavorably.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/21/AR2005072100793.html

[sabra]

1. Results of AP-Ipsos Poll on Roberts (59 percent no opinion yet)

<<SNIP>>
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050721/APA/507210785

Results of AP-Ipsos Poll on Roberts


The Associated Press-Ipsos poll on public attitudes about Supreme Court nominee John Roberts Jr is based on telephone interviews with 752 adults from all states except Alaska and Hawaii. The interviews were conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by Ipsos, an international polling firm. Most of the interviews were done on Wednesday.

Results were weighted to represent the population by demographic factors such as age, sex, region, race and income.

....

1. As you may know, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is retiring, and President Bush has nominated John Roberts Jr. to replace her. Is your opinion of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts Jr. favorable, unfavorable, or haven't you heard enough about John Roberts Jr. yet to have an opinion?

-Favorable, 25 percent

-Unfavorable, 14 percent

-Haven't heard enough to yet have an opinion, 59 percent

-Not sure, 2 percent

<</SNIP>>

[BamaLefty]

2. What Are You Doing Looking At The Tuscaloosa News?

You need to understand that that is my paper. ;)

[HockeyMom]

3. I agree

I also want to hear his stance on the separation of church and state.

[despairing optimist]

4. Also, his position on being a Catholic and putting boundaries between

his religious beliefs and the best interests of all Americans, even when that may mean censure by Catholic bishops and withholding of communion. IMHO, Roberts should be asked specifically whether he would choose against Catholic teachings regardless of the personal consequences to him if he felt upholding the Constitution and the laws and precedents of the US came first.

Abortion rights are extremely important, but so are many other rights that the church finds equally abhorrent (right to die with dignity, gay rights, human embryonic research).

[brentspeak]

5. Today's NYTimes article on Roberts

describes him as a "loyalty man".

But hyper-loyalty is not a trait we should want in a judge, let alone a supreme court justice. Members of the judiciary need to be independent-minded, not swayed by past loyalties to benefactors and friends.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. kick