Richard Honaker - Abortion Question

Abortion Question

The Senate Judiciary Committee under Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont delayed holding a hearing on Honaker's nomination until February 12, 2008. His nomination was held up in committee. Opposition has also come from interest groups which support access to abortion: National Abortion Rights Action League Pro-Choice America, Feminist Majority, and Planned Parenthood, among others.

In his legislative races, Honaker was supported by the Wyoming National Right to Life Committee. In 1991 and 1992, Honaker introduced a bill that would prohibit abortion in Wyoming except in cases of rape, incest, or the threat to the life of the mother. His colleagues defeated the bill both years. Honaker explains that his activity post-dated the United States Supreme Court's decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, a 1989 case from Missouri. The court then had impliedly invited legislation regarding abortion from the states. In the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, the court closed the door on such proposals. More than forty states considered abortion legislation during that time.

In 1994, Honaker represented a political action committee that sought to get the anti-abortion measure on the ballot as a statewide initiative. The case was reported as Wyoming NARAL v. Karpan. Honaker was not involved in drafting the initiative because he maintained that the Casey decision had rendered the measure moot. "My client, the PAC, thought otherwise and paid me to represent their views. . . . I won the case, and then the voters of Wyoming voted down the initiative" by a 61-39 percent margin," Honaker explained.

At the time, Honaker said: "Unborn children are human beings, and abortion is the taking of the life of an unborn child who is a member of the human race," a statement which alarmed pro-choice advocates.

Honaker has, however, procured support from some abortion supporters: Robert Shively, a Casper lawyer who formerly represented Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Kate Fox of Cheyenne, who formerly represented Wyoming NARAL in the case, and former Democratic State Senators Lisa Kinney and Bob Reese, and State Representative Don Sullivan of Cheyenne.

Eric M. Alden of Wheatland in southeastern Wyoming, a former Republican legislator who opposed Honaker's anti-abortion bills, was nevertheless quoted accordingly in the Casper Star-Tribune:

"I believe he has the potential to be one of the finest trial judges ever to serve in this state. His commitment to fairness is second to none. I can truthfully say that there is no person I would rather have as a judge on a case, no matter what side of any issue I was on, than Dick Honaker."