Amy Coney Barrett dodges abortion, healthcare and election law questions, Daniel Strauss on Amy Coney Barrett

“When she was asked about a newspaper ad she signed criticizing Roe v Wade, first reported by the Guardian, Barrett said she had “no recollection” of it and stressed she had nothing to hide... Most of the Democrats’ questioning centered on the ACA (Affordable Care Act), and how a ruling by the high court overturning the law would take healthcare away from millions of Americans... Barrett said she was not hostile to the ACA, abortion or gay rights, another area worrying progressives as the court seems set to tilt to a 6-3 conservative majority. She repeatedly denied any indication that her political views would color her rulings on the high court. (Kamala) Harris at one point asked Barrett if she had heard Trump’s vows to seat a supreme court justice who would overturn Roe v Wade and the ACA. Harris also pointed out that Trump nominated Barrett to serve as an appellate judge seven months after Barrett penned an article criticizing Justice John Roberts’ ruling upholding the ACA. Harris argued that showed Trump had been elevating Barrett to overturn the healthcare law.”

“Barrett, in addition to serving as an appellate judge, is also a professor at the University of Notre Dame. Almost 100 of Barrett’s colleagues in a letter urged her to hold off on the confirmation process until after the presidential election in November.... “You are not, of course, responsible for the anti-democratic machinations driving your nomination,” the letter added.”