WASHINGTON _ Facing senators on the second day of his confirmation hearing, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick, tried to assure skeptical Democrats and some moderate Republicans that he understands the "real world" importance of the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade.
He noted several times that the 1973 decision had been repeatedly affirmed, and that a 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which affirmed much of Roe, effectively created a "precedent on precedent."
Even so, most legal experts predict that Kavanaugh, if confirmed, will provide the fifth conservative vote on the court to restrict abortion rights or overturn Roe. Trump has said he would appoint only "pro-life" judges who would vote to overturn the controversial ruling.
But Kavanaugh seemed eager to raise some doubts. "I understand the significance on the issue," he said Wednesday. "I don't live in a bubble. I live in the real world."
That said, Kavanaugh gave no assurances about how he might vote, and nothing he said would prevent him from voting to restrict abortion rights. Many Supreme Court nominees speak about the importance of respecting precedents, and then once on the court vote to overturn them.
The remarks may have been largely directed at two female Republican senators who support abortion rights and whose votes will be key to Kavanaugh's confirmation. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have not announced how they will vote.
Last fall, Kavanaugh was involved in a dispute over whether a migrant teenager in Texas could be released from immigration custody to obtain an abortion. A federal judge cleared the way, but Kavanaugh wrote a 2-1 decision siding with Trump administration lawyers and blocking the abortion for up to 10 more days. The full appeals court intervened and overturned his ruling. In dissent, he faulted his more liberal colleagues as wrongly creating a "new right for unlawful immigrant minors in U.S. government detention to obtain abortion on demand."
He also gave a speech last fall in which he lauded former Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist for having dissented in Roe v. Wade and for rejecting the notion of "a wall of separation between church and state."
Separately, Kavanaugh stuck fast to his support of broad gun rights.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California pressed Kavanaugh on his view that semi-automatic rifles may not be restricted under the 2008 ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller. That decision struck down a law prohibiting possession of a handgun at home and established a Second Amendment individual right for gun ownership.
On semi-automatic rifles, Kavanaugh told Feinstein that he was following Justice Antonin Scalia's opinion in Heller. But Kavanaugh may be the only appeals court judge to read that decision as establishing a Second Amendment right to have a semi-automatic rifle.
Heller specifically allowed for restrictions in some cases, such as machine guns. Kavanaugh argued that he was required by "precedent" because these rifles are not "unusual. ... They are widely possessed."
Kavanaugh did not back off, even when Feinstein spoke about the wave of mass shootings at schools using assault weapons.
