Barrett praised for being 'unashamedly pro-life'

On the third day of Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham opened by framing the coming confirmation of President Donald Trump's pick for the Supreme Court as a victory for conservative women and praised her for being pro-life.

Sen. Graham: "This is history being made folks. This is the first time in American history that we’ve nominated a woman who is unashamedly pro-life and embraces her faith without apology, and she is going to the court."

Abortion rights groups have voiced concern that if confirmed -- Barrett, picked by Trump to replace the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, would vote to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Under questioning by Graham, Barrett reiterated her comments from Tuesday that the Roe Decision was not a “super-precedent” that could never potentially be overturned.

Also on Day three, Barrett sidestepped questions mostly from Democrats on matters of presidential powers, saying no one is above the law but dodging a question about whether a president can issue a pardon for himself.

"So far as I know that question has never been litigated, that question has never risen. That question may or may not arise, but it's one that calls for a legal analysis of what the scope of the pardon power is. So because it would be opining on an open question when I haven't gone through the judicial process to decide it, it's not one on which I can offer a view.”

Judge Barrett also commented on the legal doctrine at center of a looming case that could determine the fate of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

“The presumption is always in favor of severability.”

That legal doctrine -- severability is one in which courts assume that when one provision of a law is unlawful, Congress would want the rest of the statute to remain in place.

“If you picture severability being like a Jenga game..."

But likening the doctrine to Jenga, Barrett said Barrett said that if a statute can be saved, it is a judge's duty to do so.

"Severability is designed to say well would Congress still want the statute to stand even with the provision gone?”

Democrats have said Barrett's confirmation would threaten healthcare for millions of Americans, as they fear -- if confirmed -- she will cast a decisive vote in striking down Obamacare.