Jessica Anderson Discusses the Amy Coney Barrett Hearing

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, you’ve been watching clearly very closely the Senate questioning of Judge Barrett. What exactly, if you can sum it up, is your case for her to be the next Supreme Court justice?

JESSICA ANDERSON, EXECUTIVE, HERITAGE ACTION FOR AMERICA: Thank you for having me. Judge Barrett is an exceptional judge. She has incredible jurisprudence, an originalist perspective in all of her legal writings, and we’re excited to see her move through the Senate Judiciary process this week and ultimately to the Senate floor. We think she’s a great nominee. She’s a great legal scholar, and she will bring a certain sense of decorum to the Supreme Court in filling that ninth seat, hopefully sooner rather than later.

AMANPOUR: You’ve seen some really interesting presentations from various senators. Sheldon Whitehouse, the Democratic senator from Rhode Island, just a few minutes ago, brought up some pretty interesting evidence, reports and things that he had taken down from the Republican platform, including this from one of the other pro-life groups in Washington which is the Susan B. Anthony Foundation. Let’s just play what he’s raised in the Senate and then we’ll talk to you about it.

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SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): The Susan B. Anthony Foundation is running advertisements right now saying that you are set, you are set to give our pro-life country the court that it deserves. There is the ad with the voiceover. She said —

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AMANPOUR: So, Jessica Anderson, clearly that’s what your group wants as well. Give me an idea. Do you expect that to be one of her signature, you know, achievements on the court?

ANDERSON: Well, I think there is something to clear up here. Of course, I have a personal opinion on Roe v. Wade as does Judge Barrett. She has acknowledged as such, but I really do think it’s a bit unfair to stake out the potential position of a judge before a case is in front of them. So, some of the Democrat comments today and yesterday around how she may or may not rule on the ACA or Obamacare or Roe v. Wade or Heller and the gun cases, they all really are premature. And just like previous judicial nominations that have come before the committee and full Senate, we don’t yet know how they will rule if a case in fact gets in front of them at the Supreme Court. So, my organization, we view the role of the judiciary differently. We view it as a way to protect the constitution, to protect the rule of law. I think many Democrats view it as a super legislator in some places where they can enact policies that they may or may not be able to push through Congress or the White House at another given time.