Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Government
March 20, 2017 01:00 AM

Democrats key up healthcare concerns in Gorsuch confirmation hearing

Erica Teichert
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch faced scrutiny Monday from Senate Democrats over his stances on several healthcare issues including contraception access and abortion rights.

    The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday began the projected three-day confirmation hearing for Gorsuch to join the high court. Gorsuch was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the year-long vacancy created by conservative Justice Antonin Scalia's death in February 2016.

    While Republicans touted Gorsuch's judicial restraint and strict adherence to the law, Democrats homed in on his perceived track record of favoring businesses over individual rights, including his ruling that limited the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate.

    As a judge on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Gorsuch authored two opinions tamping down the controversial healthcare provision, which required employer-sponsored health plans to cover contraception access. One of those opinions--Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius--ruled that company owners' religious beliefs superseded the right of workers to access contraception. That decision was later upheld 5-4 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Gorsuch's opinion in that case expanded corporate rights “at the expense of the voices and choices of the American people” and he found the legal theories Gorsuch used in the opinion “painful.”

    “Our founders never believed that corporations were endowed with certain unalienable rights,” Durbin said.

    Other Democrats focused on other individual rights they perceived could be in jeopardy if justices nominated by Republican presidents regain their 5-4 majority in the Supreme Court. Trump repeatedly promised during the presidential campaign that he would nominate a judge to the high court bench who would overturn Roe v. Wade and cut back abortion rights.

    Although Gorsuch has not issued an opinion on abortion rights, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said his writings raise questions on whether he would overturn the 44-year-old Supreme Court precedent and 14 subsequent decisions upholding that ruling.

    “(These cases) are about a woman's fundamental and constitutional rights,” Feinstein said during her opening statement. “Roe ensured that women and their doctors will decide what's best for their care. Not politicians.”

    Gorsuch did not comment on the Democrats' criticisms and concerns during his opening statement Monday afternoon. Instead, he highlighted his family's humble, hardworking roots and his personal commitment to judicial independence.

    The fourth-generation Coloradoan emphasized that a good judge will not politically agree with every decision he or she makes, as it is a judge's duty to interpret the law as it stands.

    “A good judge can promise no more than that, and a good judge should guarantee no less,” he said.

    Gorsuch has received bipartisan support from lawmakers and attorneys including President Barack Obama's former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Dr. Anthony Fauci
    Fauci: 'Pandemic phase' over for US, but COVID-19 still here
    greenhouse emission
    5 takeaways from HHS' environmental justice strategy
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare Alert: Sign up for this breaking news email to be kept in the loop as urgent healthcare business news unfolds.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing