The chief motive for using the litmus test involves a judicial nominee's views on

• A. affirmative action
• B. abortion
• C. gender discrimination
• D. the rights of criminal defendants

Answer: (B)

A litmus test uses a single issue to gauge a judicial nominee’s likely approach to the law. Abortion has become the clearest and most polarizing signal of a judge’s broader judicial philosophy because it touches core questions about constitutional rights, privacy, and how the courts should interpret precedent. A nominee’s stance on abortion is taken as a proxy for how they would interpret other contentious issues and the balance between individual rights and government power. That’s why it’s the chief motive behind using a litmus test: to get a quick, concrete read on whether the nominee is likely to rule in line with a particular ideological direction on the Supreme Court. While other issues matter, they don’t consistently serve as as sharp a compass for overall judicial philosophy as abortion does.