Anti-abortion group to weigh challenge

Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | 10/10/5 | TOM HUMPHREY

[SmithL]

NASHVILLE - The head of Tennessee's leading anti-abortion group says the extent of the organization's effort to unseat three state Supreme Court justices next year will depend on whether there is a credible challenger to Gov. Phil Bredesen.

Brian Harris, president of Tennessee Right to Life, said the group "at the least will be educating our members" about the justices' role in a 2000 Supreme Court decision that found Tennessee's state constitution grants women greater rights to an abortion than the U.S. Constitution.

Bredesen is up for re-election next year and so are incumbent Supreme Court justices. In the case of appeals court judges, voters have the choice of "yes" or "no" on whether each jurist gets a new eight-year term.

If a judge gets a majority no vote, he or she looses the seat and the governor would get to pick the new judge from a list of nominees submitted by a commission.

Bredesen has voiced support for abortion rights under some circumstances. Harris said if it appears Bredesen will have no substantial opposition to re-election, there may be little point in waging a campaign against judges who supported the 2000 opinion.

"If we're going to have a pro-abortion governor, he would be filling any vacancies with more pro-abortion judges," Harris said.

Harris' comments came after William M. "Mickey" Barker was elevated last week to chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

Barker, the only Republican on the five-member Supreme Court, cast the sole dissenting vote in the 2000 abortion decision known as Planned Parenthood v. Sundquist and wrote an opinion critical of the majority view. Barker said recently, however, that he would support re-election of his colleagues to new terms.

Harris said his organization is "excited" over Barker's new position and will support his re-election in 2006. He also said Right to Life will take no position on the re-election of Justice Cornelia A. "Connie" Clark, appointed to the bench last month.

Harris said the group strongly opposes the re-election of Justices Riley Anderson, Aldolpho Birch and Janice Holder. Anderson wrote the majority opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Sundquist with Birch, Holder and now-retired Chief Justice Frank Drowota joined in the opinion.

Tom Humphrey may be reached at 615-242-7782.