Just hours before President Donald Trump officially revealed his nomination for the next Supreme Court justice on Sept. 26, Franklin Graham prayed these words:

“Father, we pray for the Supreme Court of this country and for the pick that the president is getting ready to announce today. … We pray that that woman will be Your woman and that she will sit on that bench to carry out Your laws and Your instructions.”

Months ago, when the date for Prayer March 2020 was selected, no one could have anticipated that Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court would happen the same day.

But Franklin called the timing “appropriate” and urged Christians around the country to pray during what he believes is the “most critical time in recent history.”

“There are those that would like to tear this nation apart to keep a conservative justice off the bench,” he said. “But the president said that he was going to appoint conservatives, [and] he’s keeping his word, he’s kept his promise. And we now need to pray.”

If confirmed, Barrett, 48, would become the youngest justice to ever serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the first mother of school-aged children to hold the position.

Barrett and her husband, a former federal prosecutor, have seven children—two of whom were adopted from Haiti. Their youngest child has Down syndrome.

Barrett, a Notre Dame Law School professor for more than 15 years and former law clerk for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia after law school, was appointed by Trump to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Indiana in 2017 and confirmed in the Senate by a vote of 55-43. But her confirmation process wasn’t smooth sailing.

In December 2017, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Barrett, a devout Catholic, that the “dogma lives loudly within you,” suggesting that Barrett’s faith would be at odds with her impartiality as a judge.

“I don’t think that a judge should twist the law to bring it into line or to help it match in any way the judge’s own convictions,” Barrett later said in an interview with The Daily Signal. “… Our responsibility is to adhere to the rule of law.”

While Democrats have threatened to again attack Barrett for her religious beliefs during the confirmation process—scheduled to begin Oct. 12—many conservatives are rallying behind Barrett.

“Amy Coney Barrett is a constitutionalist, a top-notch legal scholar, and simply the best choice for this seat,” Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America, said in a statement. “… We are ready to stand against the unjust, and frankly bigoted attacks we’ve heard laid against Judge Barrett’s faith.”

Live Action Founder and President Lila Rose also pledged her support for Barrett.

“The justices who have made history were those who had the courage to buck the status quo by defending the constitutional protections of the vulnerable and oppressed,” she said. “We support the nomination and swift confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.”

Kelly Shackelford, CEO and chief counsel of First Liberty Institute, expressed his confidence in Barrett’s commitment to religious liberty as outlined in the Constitution.

“Judge Barrett’s record demonstrates her commitment to the Constitution’s text and its purpose. Judge Barrett understands that government exists to protect the God-given rights of the people and the Constitution exists to prevent the government from infringing on those rights. She will make an excellent Supreme Court justice, and we expect the Senate to confirm her without delay.”

If confirmed, Barrett’s presence would cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court as she replaces Ginsburg, who had served as one of the court’s most outspoken liberals for nearly 30 years.

 

Above: Judge Amy Coney Barrett speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House on Sept. 26 after President Donald Trump officially nominated her for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Photo: Rod Lamkey/Consolidated News Photos/MediaPunch/Alamy Stock Photo