Friends -

Last night, we lost a giant. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a pioneer in the fight for equal rights and a role model to young people across the country. She was a trailblazer from beginning to end.

This was her final statement: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."

I am going to fight like hell to make sure her wish is honored. We must ensure Mitch McConnell follows his own precedent from 2016 when he said no Supreme Court vacancies should be filled in a presidential election year.

If he violates his own principle, when Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.

If you agree, join me in this fight to demand Mitch McConnell not fill this vacancy before voters have their say in November. We cannot give an inch here.

Justice Ginsburg was brilliant, thoughtful, and a staunch advocate for freedom of speech, reproductive rights, and civil rights. She was the embodiment of true justice and what every jurist strives to become.

More than 25 years ago, Ruth Bader Ginsburg had her confirmation hearing in the United States Senate. Under questioning about Roe v. Wade, Justice Ginsburg gave this succinct and infallible answer: “The state controlling the woman is both denying her full autonomy and full equality with men.”

That is what is at stake right now.

If Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are allowed to fill this vacancy, they will install another far-right ideologue whose agenda is to dismantle our rights and liberties and lock in more power for Republicans and corporations. Their nominee would roll back the clock on everything from reproductive freedom, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, civil rights, and beyond.

They have said that they are going to try to fill this seat — because of course they are. Mitch McConnell's hypocrisy is limitless. He never met a rule he wouldn't break.

Mitch McConnell won't back down, so neither can we.

And we can defeat him if we mobilize and organize. We must make the stakes of this process clear and the consequences severe should my Republican colleagues proceed.

Add your name to demand Senate Republicans not allow Donald Trump to fill this vacancy. If Mitch McConnell fills this seat, then we have no option but to right that wrong by expanding the court.

Our hearts break for this loss, but Justice Ginsburg gave us our marching orders.

We owe it to her to fight harder than we ever have before.

- Ed Markey