Senate Majority Upends Rules to Force Confirmation of Extreme Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch

SEATTLE – Today, the Senate confirmed extreme Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch after Senate  Majority Leader Mitch McConnell upended long-standing rules in order to do so. The move disregarded opposition from people across the country over Gorsuch’s extreme judicial philosophy and dangerous record on reproductive health.

Statement from Elaine Rose, CEO of Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii:

“Women marched by the millions in January because they feared the worst. Today, those fears were confirmed. Neil Gorsuch’s judicial philosophy and record leave no doubt that he will seek to restrict abortion and cut off access to birth control. Judge Gorsuch is so outside of the mainstream that Senator McConnell had to change the rules in order to jam through his confirmation.

“Gorsuch’s alarming record on reproductive rights, alongside the president’s promise to nominate a judge who will overturn Roe v. Wade makes clear that women’s rights are under significant threat. The Supreme Court has never been more important -- it decides cases that determine a person’s fundamental right to decide whether and when to become a parent, the right to vote, and the right of all people in this country to be free from discrimination based on who they love, where they come from, their race, and their religious beliefs. Neil Gorsuch is wildly out of step with where the country is on these issues, and he is unqualified to protect the rights and freedoms of Americans.

“Women of all backgrounds have been in the crosshairs of every policy this Congress has pushed -- from undermining maternity care to attacking Planned Parenthood to forcing through the confirmation of Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch. There is a reason that women make up the core of the resistance. Too many people still face barriers to health care, especially young people, people of color, those who live in rural areas, and people with low incomes.  Women have made incredible gains, and we will not stand by and see that progress walked back.”

Background on Gorsuch

In every case related to reproductive rights that Gorsuch considered as a judge on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, he has ruled in a way that would have blocked women's access to reproductive health care. This includes:

·         In Planned Parenthood Association of Utah v. Herbert, Gorsuch went to extraordinary lengths to try to allow the state of Utah to block people from coming to Planned Parenthood for health care and education. Had this happened, it would have blocked thousands of Utahns from access to STI tests, sex education, and other preventive care.

·         Gorsuch ruled in favor of the idea that corporations are people and believes that bosses should be able to impede their employees' access to birth control. In fact, he wants to go even further than the Hobby Lobby decision in blocking employees' access to insurance coverage for birth control.

·         Gorsuch has a troubling record of opposing LGBTQ rights and ruled against an incarcerated transgender woman seeking access to medically necessary hormone treatment in Druley v. Patton.