Amy Coney Barrett unfit for the U.S. Supreme Court
Press Release | September 26, 2020
Cleveland — Donald Trump has named Amy Coney Barrett as his selection for the U.S. Supreme Court.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said: “Being able to have an abortion or continue a pregnancy is a fundamental human right. You, and only you, should be able to make that decision about your body and your future. But that’s not what Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, believes. Barrett is so extreme; she doesn’t even think that health insurance coverage should include contraception. Her outright hostility to the basic human right to bodily autonomy disqualifies her from a life-time appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Cases that impact everything from insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions, to voting rights, environmental protections, equal pay, and civil rights, are all decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. These decisions deeply impact every aspect of our lives. With so much at stake, and voting in this election already in progress, there must be no confirmation of any nominee until after Inauguration Day in January. The voice of the voters must be heard.
“We must stop Trump’s illegitimate power grab and stand up the tyranny of the anti-choice minority. Call your elected officials, research where candidates up and down the ballot stand on reproductive freedom. Register and vote like your fate, and that of our nation, are at stake—because they are.”
This record shows that Judge Amy Coney Barrett is an inappropriate choice for the U.S. Supreme Court:
Barrett has gone so far as to join forces with anti-choice and far-right leaders, including Susan B. Anthony List, March for Life, Family Research Council, Priests for Life, and Heartbeat International, in a letter that recognizes “life from conception.”
Her writings indicate that she believes Roe was incorrectly decided, which should deeply concern the 7 in 10 Americans who support Roe v. Wade.
During her previous nomination hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Barrett refused to claim it was a mistake to accept a speaking engagement sponsored by a radical anti-choice group that believes in the sterilization of trans people.
Barrett joined other anti-choice individuals and spoke out against the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive-coverage policy, the single greatest advancement in reproductive healthcare in a generation.
She has written favorably about how elected officials can show their disagreement with or even undermine court decisions that are pro-choice. In making this case, she pointed to how Congress passed an anti-choice abortion restriction to undermine the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Stenberg v. Carhart, which overturned a Nebraska law restricting a woman’s right to a late-term abortion.1
1. Amy Coney Barrett, Symposium: Stare Decisis and Nonjudicial Actors, Notre Dame Law Review 1147, 2008.
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