Left-leaning groups are opposing Bush's nomination of Carolyn Kuhl to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

"On Friday, a coalition of left-leaning groups met to urge public opposition to Kuhl....saying she was among President Bush's most conservative nominees. She was called anti-consumer, anti-labor, anti-abortion, anti-environment and more."

"Kuhl has been criticized for work she did while a Justice Department lawyer, including arguing for a return to nonprofit status for segregationist Bob Jones University and signing a brief that questioned Roe v. Wade. She was also criticized Friday as being against whistleblower laws and for having represented Shell Oil in a dispute for which Shell was ordered to pay $5 million to clean contaminated land."

"Judge Kuhl's record on women's health and Roe v. Wade are out of step with commonly held views and well-established legal principles," said Carole Joffe of the Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy in San Francisco. "

"Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, prefaced the first meeting of this Congress' Senate Judiciary Committee by announcing a change in the handling of "blue slips," the traditional consent forms requested of a judicial nominee's home state senators. The move could give Kuhl a hearing even if Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., declines to return her blue slip, a signal of opposition."