Abortion Stance Demanded of Court Nominee

Liberals and conservatives are calling for the next Supreme Court nominee to have a known stance on abortion — they just disagree on the stance.

President Bush’s nomination of Harriet Miers to succeed retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was knocked down after conservative complaints that Miers’ stance on abortion wasn’t clear.

The nomination of Miers, White House counsel, was withdrawn Thursday.

The New York Times reports Bush is getting pressure from conservatives to nominate someone with an anti-abortion rights stance and a short wish list with four Courts of Appeals judges is being circulated.

Senate Democrats as well as some pro-choice Republicans in the Senate are warning such nominees could be voted down altogether or be met with a filibuster.