Blackburn turned to Roe vs. Wade, which she called an “awful act of judicial activism.” She asked Jackson, “Do you commit to respecting the Court’s decision if it rules that Roe was wrongly decided?” Jackson responded that she will treat all judicial precedents with the same level of respect. The judge observed that abortion is a right that the Supreme Court has recognized, but agreed with Blackburn that the text of the Constitution does not mention abortion.
After touching on a comment Jackson made several decades ago about all judges having personal biases, as well as the topic of critical race theory, Blackburn brought up gender identity as it relates to children’s education.
“Do you agree that our schools should teach children that they can choose their gender?” asked the senator. Jackson started to answer that she was not going to make a comment about what schools can teach, when Blackburn cut in and quoted former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg saying that the two sexes are not “fungible.” Blackburn then asked Jackson whether she agreed with Ginsburg that the differences between men and women are “enduring.”
Jackson would not comment, saying that she was not familiar with the case Blackburn was quoting and would want to read all of it before answering. It was then that Blackburn asked the judge if she could give it definition for the word, “woman,” and Jackson refused.
“You believe the meaning of the word ‘woman’ is so unclear and controversial that you cannot give me a definition?” asked Blackburn.
Jackson replied, “Senator, in my work as a judge, what I do is address disputes if there is a dispute about a definition, people make arguments, and I look at the law and I decide.”
“The fact that you cannot give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is,” said Blackburn, “underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about.”
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Answer Provokes Responses
Quite a few people, particularly those of a conservative bent, took Jackson’s refusal to give a definition of the word “woman” in the same way that Blackburn did—negatively.
“Joe Biden picked her because she’d be the first black woman on SCOTUS and she’s can’t even define what the word ‘woman’ means,” tweeted Greg Price, a GOP strategist.
