I wanted you to see my statement on President Trump's nomination of
Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court
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Center for Reproductive Rights - ReproductiveRights.org
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Dear Friend,
I wanted you to see my statement on President Trump's nomination of
Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Nancy
Statement from Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for
Reproductive Rights, on President Trump's Nomination of Judge
Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court
Just one week ago, the American people lost a champion of equal
justice under law with the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She
understood how critical legal rights are to unwedge oppressive
structures that exacerbate societal inequalities. She fought to
dismantle sex discrimination and understood that women must have
control over their fertility and receive fair treatment during
pregnancy if we are to achieve gender equality. Justice Ginsburg's
passing comes on the cusp of a presidential election, in the middle of
a pandemic and economic crisis, and a national moral reckoning over
the nation's past and present manifestations of racial oppression.
At this unprecedented time, and while the nation is still mourning and
paying tribute to Justice Ginsburg's tremendous contributions to
advancing equality, President Donald Trump has nominated a replacement
who would gut Justice Ginsburg's legacy and turn back five decades of
advancement for reproductive rights. The Senate Majority's attempt to
bulldoze this deeply troubling nomination through before the
inauguration in January is unconscionable, an insult to the American
public, an assault on the integrity of the Supreme Court, and a threat
to critical constitutional rights. Americans need to make clear that
their fundamental rights for generations to come will not be pawns in
a political power grab.
In the three years that Judge Amy Coney Barrett has served on the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, she has ruled against
abortion rights both times the issue was before her. The cases involve
challenges to Indiana abortion restrictions, including one that bans
abortion care if sought because of a fetal diagnosis or for reasons of
sex or race. Judge Barrett joined an opinion which argued that "[n]one
of the Court's abortion decisions holds that states are powerless to
prevent abortions" on grounds such as those in the Indiana statute. In
fact, Roe v. Wade and the cases that follow are very clear that the
government does not have the power to interrogate women or scrutinize
their decisions to choose to end a pregnancy prior to viability. What
is alarming is that Judge Barrett went out of her way to make the
argument that states could ban abortion if they don't like a woman's
reason, even though Indiana had not sought further review of the
issue.
In a second case out of Indiana, Judge Barrett again joined an opinion
that sought to review long-standing abortion rights law that clinics
and doctors may challenge restrictive abortion laws before they go
into effect.
President Trump has vowed to nominate to the U.S. Supreme Court only
justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade "automatically." With the
nomination of Judge Barrett, the President is presumably making good
on his promise. Indeed, both of President Trump's prior Supreme Court
nominees failed to follow clear precedent in the most recent abortion
rights case, June Medical Services v. Russo (2020), which the Supreme
Court decided in June. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch would
have allowed a Louisiana abortion restriction to go into effect,
despite the fact that an identical law from Texas was struck down as
unconstitutional just four years before.
Since the election of President Trump, states have accelerated their
decades-long campaign to end abortion services. While there have been
over 450 abortion restrictions passed at the state level since 2011,
recent years saw more extreme bans, including Mississippi's ban on
abortion at 15 weeks, a case which is now pending for review by the
Supreme Court. Chillingly, there are dozens of abortion rights cases
currently moving through lower federal courts heading towards the
Supreme Court. Some are test cases to overturn Roe v. Wade or to
render it meaningless by upholding laws that make abortion impossible
to access. In the strategy to end abortion access in the U.S., courts
are the linchpin.
It is imperative that no nominee be confirmed who would overturn or
gut the constitutional protections for abortion access. One in four
women in the U.S. will make the decision that ending a pregnancy is
the right decision for her. The overwhelming majority of Americans do
not want to see Roe overturned or hollowed out into a meaningless
shell. They understand, as has been articulated by the Court, that the
Constitution guarantees to each person the right to make the "most
basic decisions about family and parenthood" because these are
"choices central to personal dignity and autonomy."
The stakes are extraordinarily high for health care at large and the
rights of all. The President has also vowed to end the Affordable Care
Act (ACA), which has substantial protections for women's health,
including requiring that health insurance plans cover maternity care,
provide contraception without a copay, do not charge women more for
insurance premiums, and do not exclude coverage for pre-existing
conditions, such as cesarean sections, domestic violence, or breast
cancer. This Supreme Court term, the Court will decide whether it
agrees with the Trump Administration that the ACA is unconstitutional,
a position that could mean millions of Americans lose their health
insurance in the middle of a pandemic.
The Supreme Court has a vital role in protecting and upholding civil
rights and liberties - including reproductive rights - for
everyone in the United States. We cannot barrel forward with a
nomination that will impact people's lives for generations.
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