National Health Law Program Urges Senators to Reject Nominee, and Demand One Who Is Committed to Upholding and Protecting Rights, Not Limiting Them
Washington – President Trump, continuing his aggressive effort to re-make the federal judiciary, has nominated a conservative judge to the U.S. Supreme Court who, if confirmed, would advance the long-sought conservative goal to remake the U.S. Supreme Court.
“With President Trump’s second pick to the U.S. Supreme Court, we are facing the potential of a solidly right-wing Court for decades to come – and that would be a profound setback to the progress we have made in expanding access to health care to everyone, regardless of age, gender, income, sexual orientation, gender identity, or pre-existing conditions. Instead, if Judge Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Court, he will be the fifth vote in favor of overturning the Affordable Care Act, or siding in favor of allowing health care providers, citing their religious beliefs, to discriminate against women and LGBTQ individuals. If the administration’s efforts to radically limit access to Medicaid come before the Supreme Court, Judge Kavanaugh will likely be the fifth vote to undo the great progress Medicaid has made in the lives of tens of millions of people struggling to get by in low-wage jobs with little to no health care coverage. Senators who are committed to health care for our country’s most vulnerable and underserved people must make a stand and stop this nomination from going forward,” said National Health Law Program Executive Director Elizabeth G. Taylor.
National Health Law Program Director of Reproductive Health Susan Berke Fogel said Judge Kavanaugh would also join the high court’s other right-wing justices to provide a deciding vote in cases vital to the health care of women.
“Donald Trump is keeping to a promise he made repeatedly on the campaign trail – trample the rights of all women, and overturn Roe v. Wade, which includes a fundamental right to reproductive care. Unless the Senate blocks the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the president will be able to do more than trumpet a victory on the next campaign trail, he will have forged a hardcore conservative Supreme Court for more than a generation. This nomination, if confirmed, will imperil the constitutional rights of women and their access to quality and comprehensive health care, which includes contraception, prenatal care, and abortion. Senators committed to protecting our constitutional rights should reject this nomination.”
Please contact Jeremy Leaming at [email protected] or Andy DiAntonio at [email protected] for more information and comment from Taylor or Fogel regarding Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.
National Health Law Program, founded in 1969, advocates for the rights of low-income and underserved people to access quality health care.
