Supreme Court decision could threaten access to abortion nationwide
For Immediate Release: October 4, 2019
Contact: [email protected]
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today to review the June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee case threatening access to abortion, and on the one-year anniversary of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue released the following statement:
“It’s no accident that on the anniversary of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, the anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court is taking up a case challenging our fundamental reproductive freedoms. This is their playbook: stack the federal bench with anti-choice judges to gut reproductive rights. Today’s decision to review a case that is virtually identical to a case that was settled just three years ago is further proof that Donald Trump has paid back his debts and then some to an anti-choice minority that put him in office. The only thing that has changed since the Supreme Court decided Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016 is the composition of the Court. The addition of anti-choice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the highest Court in the land is clearly a greenlight to begin to roll back hard-won fundamental freedoms that have guided our law for decades. We hope that the Supreme Court will uphold precedent and protect Louisiana women and families’ basic rights, but no matter what, NARAL will continue to fight back against the anti-choice movement’s attacks on reproductive freedom and hold those responsible for putting anti-choice justices on the bench accountable.”
As NARAL has said from the beginning, Donald Trump’s judicial nominees like Brett Kavanaugh are beholden to the anti-choice movement and are willing to overturn precedent to accomplish an ideological agenda. Since Kavanaugh’s confirmation, extreme bans on abortion have been introduced, passed, or signed in 30 states this year alone, as an emboldened anti-choice movement pounces on the opportunity to gut or overturn Roe now that Kavanaugh is on the bench. Kavanaugh took it upon himself to show his true colors when he wrote the dissenting opinion opposing an earlier request to temporarily block the abortion restriction in June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee from going into effect.
In addition to Kavanaugh’s hostility to abortion rights, he faces multiple credible sexual assault allegations that were ignored as part of Trump and Senate Republicans’ efforts to jam through his nomination without appropriate investigation or oversight. NARAL will continue to push for real investigations, meaningful accountability, and Kavanaugh’s removal from the bench, while standing up for every person’s freedom to make the best decision for themselves and how, if, and when to grow or start a family.
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NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all. For more than 50 years, NARAL has worked to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. Since 1969, NARAL has made history, grown to over 2 million members, and met the moments that have defined this fight with action, power and freedom. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”