Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri Statement on Supreme Court Nominee Gorsuch: Opposition to Roe v. Wade is a Disqualifier 

On Tuesday, President Trump announced Judge Neil Gorsuch as his nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Statement from M’Evie Mead, Missouri Director of Policy and Organizing, Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri:

“Nominees to the highest court in the land must protect our fundamental rights — including a woman’s constitutional right to control her own body. Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for more than 40 years — and any nominee who opposes it is unacceptable. In this moment, so much is at risk: access to health care, 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, their disability, and their religious beliefs. President Trump’s nominee, Neil Gorsuch, has an alarming history of interfering with reproductive rights and health. Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri calls on Senators Blunt and McCaskill and every other U.S. senator to uphold a fundamental standard: if y ou oppose Roe v. Wade and women’s access to health care, you are not qualified to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards sent Senate leaders McConnell and Schumer a letter making clear that it is unacceptable to appoint any justice to the highest court in the land who will attack a woman’s right to reproductive freedom. Americans overwhelmingly support keeping abortion safe and legal, which has been the law of the land for more than 40 years.

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Background

• Support for access to safe, legal abortion is at a record high — nearly 70 percent of Americans don’t want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, the highest rate since the case was decided more than 40 years ago — and that includes people who voted for President Trump.

• More than three in five Missourians (61 percent) support Planned Parenthood receiving state and federal funds to provide preventive health services like contraception and cancer screenings.

• Judge Gorsuch ruled in favor of the idea that corporations are people and against women’s access to contraception. He has sided with politicians trying to deny women and men access to basic health care like STI tests and reproductive health education services provided by Planned Parenthood health centers. Judge Gorsuch has also been highly critical of LGBTQ advocates and others who turn to the courts to protect their constitutional rights.