Trump’s Supreme Court Pick, Judge Kavanaugh, Would End Roe v Wade And Criminalize Abortion
Press Release | July 9, 2018
Columbus — Tonight President Trump announced that he is nominating Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy left by Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. During his campaign for president, Trump promised anti-choice conservatives that he would only appoint Justices who would overturn or gut Roe v. Wade.
The following statement can be attributed to NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland, “President Trump promised to appoint justices that would overturn or gut Roe v. Wade. Because this seat on the U.S Supreme Court is the difference between upholding Roe and criminalizing abortion and punishing women, the burden of proof must be on the Trump’s nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to proactively prove he will preserve Roe v. Wade and not criminalize abortion.”
Copeland continued, “In Ohio, abortion access is already out of reach for many women due to clinic closures and a litany of politically motivated restrictions. If Kavanaugh votes to overturn or gut Roe, he would clear the way for Ohio’s gerrymandered legislature to criminalize abortion in our state. Mike DeWine, the GOP candidate for governor, has pledged to sign such an abortion ban. We cannot let that happen. That is why we must elect Rich Cordray as our next governor.”
President Trump himself has promised over and over again to appoint Supreme Court justices who will work to overturn Roe v. Wade, criminalizing women in the process. Here is a brief background on Judge Kavanaugh’s extensive anti-choice record.
Brett Kavanaugh
Current position: Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Appointed by anti-choice President George W. Bush
Served as Senior Associate Counsel and in various other positions in the anti-choice George W. Bush White House. In these roles, he was responsible for “marshaling the fleet” of George W. Bush’s far-right, anti-choice judicial nominees, including Priscilla Owen and William Pryor.
Active in the conservative Federalist Society.
Contributed to anti-choice, extreme politicians including Henry Hyde and Orrin Hatch.
Issued a strongly worded dissent against a D.C. Circuit decision that allowed an undocumented young woman to access abortion care. Kavanaugh argued that despite the fact that the girl had already met all of Texas’ burdensome requirements for young women seeking abortion care (mandatory delay, state court approval, etc.), she should have to wait until she had an immigration sponsor to make “that momentous life decision.” He wrote, “The en banc majority…reflects a philosophy that unlawful immigrant minors have a right to immediate abortion on demand, not to be interfered with even by government efforts to help minors navigate what is undeniably a difficult situation by expeditiously transferring them to their sponsors.”
In a heated dissent in Priests for Life v. HHS, Kavanaugh argued that the Affordable Care Act’s religious accommodation to the contraceptive-coverage policy placed a substantial burden on religious employers’ beliefs, even “if the religious organizations are misguided in thinking that this scheme…makes them complicit in facilitating contraception or abortion.” A new national poll, conducted on behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice America by Public Policy Polling in key states, finds that the majority of voters, including nearly two-thirds of independent voters, do not want to see Roe v. Wade ended, and would oppose any nominee to the Supreme Court who would overturn it. Moreover, a majority of voters, including 62% of Maine voters and 53% of Alaska voters, also said they would be less likely to support their senator if they voted to confirm a candidate to the Supreme Court who would completely overturn Roe and criminalize abortion.
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