Robertson: "[B]efore the end of this year there will be another vacancy" on the Supreme Court

Summary: Pat Robertson predicted that there will be another Supreme Court vacancy by "the end of this year."

On the March 7 broadcast of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, host Pat Robertson pronounced that there will be a new vacancy on the Supreme Court by "the end of this year." Robertson did not say what led him to believe a vacancy would open, why it would open, or which justice would be leaving the high court.

While discussing South Dakota's recently signed legislation banning abortion except when required to save the woman's life, Robertson declared that "with the current makeup of the court, they still don't have as many judges as would be needed to overturn Roe [v. Wade]," the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Continuing, Robertson declared: "They need one more, and I dare say before the end of this year there will be another vacancy on the court."

Media Matters for America previously documented Robertson's comments on the January 3, 2005, broadcast of The 700 Club, when he said that God told him: "I will remove judges from the Supreme Court quickly, and their successors will refuse to sanction the attacks on religious faith." Robertson also said that he "heard it from the Lord" that President Bush will have Social Security and tax reform passed and that Muslims "will be turning ... to Jesus Christ."

From the March 7 broadcast of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club:

ROBERTSON: The way I understand it is that [Gov.] Haley Barbour [R] is going to sign one in Mississippi that would be comparable to South Dakota. And the whole idea there is to get a couple of the circuits ruling on this matter, because if you have a conflict on the circuits, it guarantees going to the Supreme Court. But it does seem that with the current makeup of the court, they still don't have as many judges as would be needed to overturn Roe. They need one more, and I dare say before the end of this year there will be another vacancy on the court. And this case will be percolating up the line to hit the court maybe in a year or so. So, that's what these governors are doing; they're setting up a challenge. But, it does seem pretty extreme. They don't have and rape or incest exception in there; it's just strictly the life of the mother. So, we'll see what happens.

—J.M.