Romney adviser: Women 'aren't discriminated against anymore'

A legal adviser to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign recently told Newsweek that women are no longer discriminated against in the United States.

Romney announced the formation of his "Justice Advisory Committee" in August. The group is co-chaired by former District of Columbia federal appeals judge Robert Bork.

Bork was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, but the Senate rejected his nomination because of his controversial political philosophy. He had claimed that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment should apply only to racial and not gender discrimination, among other things.

"I think I feel justified by the fact ever since then, the Equal Protection Clause kept expanding in ways that cannot be justified historically, grammatically, or any other way," he said in the interview published Monday.

"Women are a majority of the population now -- a majority in university classrooms and a majority in all kinds of contexts. It seems to me silly to say, ‘Gee, they’re discriminated against and we need to do something about it.’ They aren’t discriminated against anymore."

Bork has also served as a U.S. Solicitor General and acting Attorney General.

Romney's "Justice Advisory Committee" includes 63 lawyers, at least ten of which have connections to the Bush administration.

Photo credit: Matthew Reichbach