Nominee for federal court seat wrote failed Wyoming abortion bill

[heatstreak]

Rock Springs lawyer Richard Honaker, whose nomination for a U.S. District Court judgeship in Wyoming was announced Monday, was the author in 1991 of a bill in the state Legislature that would have imposed the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion.

The "Human Life Protection Act" was rejected by the House Judiciary Committee. Had it become law, it would have outlawed abortions except in cases where a mother's health was in jeopardy, or in cases of rape or incest. In the latter two instances, a woman seeking an abortion would have had to report the crime within five days after she was able to. Honaker's nomination was announced Monday by Sens. Craig Thomas and Mike Enzi, both R-Wyo. If confirmed by the Senate, Honaker would fill the seat vacated by U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer of Cheyenne, who announced his intention to take senior status in September.

In a telephone interview Monday, Honaker, 56, said a judge should "never substitute his political views for those of the Legislature or Congress."

"As a state legislator, I took positions on a lot of legislative issues and public policy issues, and one of them was on the abortion issue. That was my role at that time," Honaker said. "But my role as a judge would be far different."

Sharon Breitweiser, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wyoming, said she remembers Honaker pushing anti-abortion legislation as a state legislator.

"I'm horrified," Breitweiser said Monday of Honaker's nomination to serve as federal judge.

"I have not had any personal dealings with him in many years, but I would doubt that his zeal for the anti-abortion movement has waned in any way," Breitweiser said.



http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/03/20/ap-state-wy/d8nvkmbg0.txt