America [magazine of the Jesuit religious order in the United States] in July had endorsed Kavanaugh on the grounds that he might have provided the Supreme Court with the vote needed to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The Catholic Church firmly opposes abortion.

"Anyone who recognizes the humanity of the unborn should support the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh," the editors entitled their July 9 editorial, before Ford's accusation was made public.

In their new editorial, America's editors said they were still committed to finding a justice with Kavanaugh's textualist approach to jurisprudence that is suspicious of the kind of judicial innovation that led to the Roe decision. But they said Kavanaugh was not the only candidate available.