During the 2016 presidential election, then-candidate Donald Trump made a promise to voters: he would only nominate pro-life judges to the Supreme Court should there be a vacancy.
Now, roughly two years into the Trump presidency, he has appointed more judges to federal court than Barack Obama did in four. Most notably, hyper-conservative Neil Gorsuch sits on the Court and Brett Kavanaugh is waiting to be appointed. Women like me are left to wonder: where will Roe v. Wade stand should Kavanaugh be confirmed?
I am a young woman about to begin her final year of college. In a year’s time, I will begin my professional life as someone with a career and aspirations. Now is simply not the time for me to start a family. Access to abortion and birth control are crucial to me and to women like me who stand to lose everything if not given reproductive choice and freedom. If I have daughters someday, I want them to be able to face the world knowing that when, how, and if they become mothers, it will be a choice entirely their own. But Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court could stop that dream in its tracks.
Make no mistake: there will be real consequences for women, the LGBTQ community, and the immigrant community should Kavanaugh be appointed to the Supreme Court. This administration has worked tirelessly to belittle and delineate women’s reproductive rights, from imposing the gag rule on Title X funded facilities to allowing company insurance plans to deny women birth control.
What’s to stop this administration from overturning Roe v. Wade? Short answer: nothing. Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination is being celebrated by anti-abortion groups because he has a clear history of trying to block access to abortion. A prime example of this is his effort to prevent an undocumented woman in U.S. custody from getting a safe and legal abortion. He is endorsed by groups who want to overturn Roe v. Wade, like the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. Brett Kavanaugh time and again has tried to prevent women from making decisions about their health and their bodies. It is for all these reasons that I and others vehemently oppose the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
If you’re fired up about this (and you should be), there’s a quick and easy way to oppose this nominee: Call and write to your senators and tell them to block the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. Tell them you will not accept a Supreme Court justice who will not uphold the right to access safe and legal abortion. There is simply too much at stake to be silent; the rights of our children and grandchildren are on the line.