Supreme Court Watch: Roe at Risk

Last week, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh dodged dozens of questions about the constitutional right to abortion during his confirmation hearings.

• He wouldn’t answer questions about whether or not it would be unconstitutional for a state to ban abortion.

• He seemed to intentionally ignore the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which preserved access to abortion for millions of women.

• A leaked email even showed Brett Kavanaugh doesn't believe Roe v. Wade is "settled law" — or safe from being overturned — contrary to his previous statements.

Kavanaugh’s anti-abortion record is clear. If he’s confirmed, he’d swing the balance of the court and decimate access to safe, legal abortion in the United States. While critics downplay the seriousness of this nomination, there is no mistake about it: the constitutional right to access safe and legal abortion is at risk.

Look no further than Missouri to see what kind of harm courts can inflict on reproductive rights, where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued a ruling that threatens to shut down abortion services at one of Missouri’s two remaining health centers that can provide it, which would eliminate abortion access at all but one health center in the state of more than 6 million people.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling striking down virtually identical restrictions in Texas, this decision attempts to re-write the books on abortion access by ignoring precedent and what is already settled law.

In Texas, similar restrictions had a devastating impact on access to health care and now people in Missouri face the same injustice. This ruling is a stark example of just how easily judges like Brett Kavanaugh can gut people’s constitutional rights, ignoring the real barriers that these medically unnecessary, politically motivated laws place on access to abortion.

“If this case is appealed to the Supreme Court, this would be the first opportunity for Trump appointees on the highest court to undermine Roe v Wade. The courts hold the power to protect our rights or inflict incredible harm—and that’s precisely why it is so incredibly important to vote this November.” 

- Sarah Stoesz, President, Planned Parenthood Action Fund

This decision isn’t the only threat to safe, legal abortion. There are already 13 other abortion cases that could go to the Supreme Court during the next term, including an Arkansas law that would ban medication abortion entirely, leaving only one abortion clinic in the state and forcing people to travel hundreds of miles or out-of-state to access an abortion. Any one of these cases could be the case that the Supreme Court rules on to gut Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court could rule on abortion as early as next summer—and if Kavanaugh is confirmed, he could be one of the decision makers.

With the Supreme Court hanging in balance and in the face of the Trump-Pence administration’s relentless attacks on access to safe, legal abortion—the most important thing you can do right now is help us elect lawmakers who will protect our health, rights, and communities. Minnesotans deserve champions who will stand up to Trump and his allies in D.C. and protect our rights.