Feeling Powerless? Here’s Why We Can Win the Fight to Stop Kavanaugh

Exactly a year after we defeated Trumpcare, we’re facing yet another seemingly unwinnable fight: blocking the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nominated by President Trump and applauded by anti-abortion groups, Kavanaugh has a record of opposing Roe v. Wade and our constitutional right to access safe, legal abortion.

If he’s confirmed by the Senate, Kavanaugh would sway the Supreme Court’s balance away from our constitutional right to abortion. He’d also threaten access to health care, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, and so much more.

Act now! Urge your senators to block Kavanaugh

The numbers are on our side. New polling from Gallup shows that Kavanaugh is historically unpopular. He has the lowest level of public support of any nominee Gallup has measured in more than 30 years. It’s not hard to understand why Americans don’t like Kavanaugh: His record of ruling against access to abortion is in direct contrast to what Americans want.

According to a new poll by NBC and the Wall Street Journal, a record 71 percent of Americans don’t want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Say it with us: Americans don’t want Brett Kavanaugh on the bench.

Can we talk about how your grassroots efforts stopped the worst bill for women in a generation? They said we couldn’t do it and that “defunding” Planned Parenthood was a sure thing. But you rose up and proved them wrong. From day one, thousands of Planned Parenthood patients, supporters, and advocates fought like hell to protect our access to health care.

It's time to get loud. 

In the end, it was your activism that made the difference. You made more than 300,000 phone calls to members of Congress. You organized more than 2,200 events across the country, including rallies, town halls, petition drops, phone banks, and marches. The defeat was a major victory for the millions of people who would have lost their access to health care. You did it. And we’re ready to do it again.

The path to blocking Kavanaugh's nomination is no different than the path we used to defeat Trumpcare, which would have repealed the ACA and blocked patients from going to Planned Parenthood health centers for care. The defeat was a shocking upset in the eleventh hour.

Republican senators Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Susan Collins (ME) — who are also pivotal in the fight to block Kavanaugh’s nomination — vowed to protect health care access and repeatedly voted against the harmful repeal. In the end, a last-minute vote from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) killed the bill dead — saving health care access for millions of people. All in all, since the ACA was passed in March 2010, Republican leadership has tried more than 70 times to take away people’s health care. And we beat them back every time.

Bottom line: Your voice matters. Make sure your senators remember what it felt like to do the right thing.

In late May, people in Ireland overwhelming voted to change the country’s constitution to legalize access to abortion. The victory came as an unexpected landslide: Despite expectations for a tight ballot, 66 percent of voters supported overturning Ireland’s dangerous abortion ban. Turnout for the referendum was the third highest the country had seen in more than 80 years. The historic win was credited to the tireless work of grassroots organizations. With the vote, Ireland showed the world not only the importance of access to safe, legal abortion, but also the power of grassroots activism.

Kavanaugh’s path to a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court faces a major roadblock: you. We’re seeing over and over again that your resistance is a force to be reckoned with.

Since 2016, one in five people in the country have marched or protested — especially for women’s rights. Already, in the days since Kavanaugh was nominated, you’re making waves by signing petitions and making calls. And more than 100 events have been planned in Washington, D.C., and across the country.