“A Prolife Disaster”: The Sandra Day O’Connor Nomination

Abstract

In 1980, Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party Platform foregrounded the significance of Supreme Court nominations in promoting the “sanctity of human life” and “traditional family values.” Opponents of abortion were thus confounded when, in the first six months of Reagan’s presidency, he nominated Sandra Day O’Connor to the highest bench in the land. Right-to-lifers believed O’Connor was a supporter of abortion rights and feminist goals, and they were deeply troubled by the revelation that their access and symbolic capital did not translate into influence. The chapter demonstrates the fragility of the alliance between right-to-lifers, the New Right, and the Religious Right, as well as the fraught dynamics between the pro-life movement, the Reagan administration, and the Republican Party. The attempt to block O’Connor was doomed to failure, but it threw into stark relief which segments of the Reagan Revolution were willing to risk antagonizing the President in defense of their goals.

Jack Willke to Ronald Reagan, 1 July 1981, FG 051, #019837, WHORM.