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Pro-Lifers Respond To Kennedy Resignation: The ‘Moment’ They’ve Been Waiting For

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Grace Carr Reporter
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Pro-lifers applauded the retirement announcement of Justice Anthony Kennedy from the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“This is the moment conservative women have been waiting for — the chance to return justice and constitutional limits to the nation’s highest court,” Concerned Women for America (CWA) president Penny Nance said in a statement after Kennedy’s resignation.

The organization is “gearing up” for its “biggest and perhaps most important confirmation battle” and expecting to win, she said.

CWA is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization that seeks to advance the sanctity of human life and religious liberty through advocacy and education.

Kennedy, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, served on the Supreme Court for 30 years and spearheaded major decisions on abortion, gay rights and the First Amendment, among others. The justice was lauded as the Democrats’ last hope on an otherwise conservative court, and his resignation has been met with complaints from the left. (RELATED: Kennedy Calls It Quits: Longtime Swing Justice Hands Trump The Biggest Gift Of His Presidency)

The White House thanked Kennedy, noting that he “authored landmark opinions in every significant area of constitutional law,” in a Wednesday press release.

“Justice Kennedy leaves a legacy of disappointing decisions when it comes to the first right necessary for all people — the Right to Life,” Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins said in a Wednesday press release.

March For Life president Jeanne Mancini also applauded the resignation, remarking that the organization “look[s] forward to another nominee who, like Justice Gorsuch, is brilliant, impeccably qualified, and independent.”

“I will be committed to confirming more judges, like Neil Gorsuch, who will honor and uphold our Constitution,” pro-life Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee also said in a Wednesday statement.

A fierce battle can be expected to ensue following Kennedy’s departure, which marks the opening of a seat that could result in a Supreme Court conservative majority, a feat that Republicans have long awaited.

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