November 2, 2005

Is the Projo Making Samuel Alito's Religion an Issue?

Carroll Andrew Morse

Today’s Projo editorial on Samuel Alito contains at least one sentence requiring clarification…

One particularly troubling example of Judge Alito's approach is his dissent in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In that case he backed a Pennsylvania law that required a woman seeking an abortion to consult her husband. It is her body. But then, as Judge Alito's mother, Rose Alito, noted, "Of course he's against abortion." The judge is a Catholic. The Journal continues to support a woman's right to choose abortion.
The context in which Alito’s religion is mentioned seems to imply that the fact that “the judge is Catholic” contributes to the judge’s “troubling approach”.

Is that the correct interpretation? If not, then why mention Judge Alito’s religion at all?