In so many words, so spoke Supreme Court nominees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh during their confirmation hearings in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. That testimony led many Americans to believe neither Mr. Gorsuch nor Mr. Kavanaugh would vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case in which the high court declared the choice of having an abortion (within certain guidelines) was a Constitutional right.

However, the recent leak of a preliminary Supreme Court opinion on abortion rights indicated that both Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were ready to state that the right to an abortion is not Constitutionally protected. This is leading people to ask if the Justices' confirmation statements regarding Roe vs. Wade, testified to under oath, were out-and-out lies that were made deliberately to win the votes of moderate Republicans.

(Kavanaugh testimony image from Vanity Fair)
Here are a few direct quotes from those confirmation hearings. First, Mr. Kavanaugh:

Mr. Kavanaugh: "As a general proposition I understand the importance of the precedent set forth in Roe v. Wade."
Senator Feinstein (D-CA): "What would you say your position is today on a woman's right to choose?"
Mr. Kavanaugh: "As a judge it is an important precedent of the Supreme Court. By 'it', I mean Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, have been affirmed many times. Casey is precedent on precedent."

Next, Mr. Gorsuch:

Mr. Gorsuch: "The Supreme Court of the United States has held that Roe v. Wade, that a fetus is not a person for purposes of the 14th Amendment."
Senator Durbin (D - IL) "Do you accept that?"
Mr. Gorsuch: "That's the law of the land, I accept the law of the land, Senator, yes."

In addition to their sworn Congressional testimony, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) said that she spoke privately with Mr. Kavanaugh on this issue during the confirmation process and was convinced that he would not overturn Roe vs. Wade, saying at the time that Kavanaugh had assured her Roe vs. Wade was "settled law." This assurance was the reason she was willing to vote in favor of his confirmation.

(Collins image from The Bangor Daily News)
Following the leaked draft opinion, though, Americans also were anxious to hear what Senator Collins had to say, particularly those Americans who feared, even at the time of the nomination proceedings, that Mr. Kavanaugh had been lying in order to win the votes of Senators like Ms. Collins. She responded to these questions with the following statement, "If this leaked draft opinion is the final decision and this reporting is accurate, it would be completely inconsistent with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office."

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) viewed the Gorsuch and Kavanaugh testimony in a similar vein to that of Ms. Collins. Ms. Murkowski's response to the leaked draft? "If it {the Court's final decision} goes in the direction that this leaked copy has indicated, I will just tell you that it rocks my confidence in the court right now."

(Murkowski image from KTUU.com)
We checked what the penalty is for lying to Congress and found that not only is it a crime, but that the penalty could include up to five years in prison. In the case of government office holders, conviction would undoubtedly also lead to impeachment and removal from office, assuming the guilty party did not resign first.

It is unlikely that the Justice Department would prosecute in these cases, though, given the politicized nature of the issue involved, but achieving a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court by lying is a terrible message for our children to learn. It further weakens respect for the rule of law and for our democratic institutions, which already are facing unprecedented attacks from a certain ex-President and the extremists among his followers.

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