Few who follow the courts will deny that there are currently 4 Justices on the Supreme Court ready to gut and repeal Roe v. Wade, criminalizing abortion and punishing women.
With Justice Kennedy’s retirement, and Trump having promised to name an anti-choice nominee, the 5th and last Justice needed to overturn Roe could be coming any day.
Can we expect any Republican Senators to stand up against Trump’s next attacks on women’s reproductive rights?
A close look at Maine’s Senator Susan Collins on yesterday’s Sunday shows gives some clues. After all, she claims to be a pro-choice Republican but has voted for 3 of the 4 current Justices who would repeal Roe.
Here are a few of her claims and some reality checks:
Senator Collins announced that she doesn’t believe Justice Gorsuch will vote to overturn Roe because of his commitment to precedent.
- REALITY CHECK: Gorsuch has already voted to overturn precedent twice since his appointment to the Court—one of those times was just two weeks ago when he voted to crush unions in the Janus case.
Senator Collins said Trump told her he “would not be asking that question” in regards to overturning Roe.
- REALITY CHECK: Trump already promised he will only appoint anti-choice Justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade. Further, his list of possible nominees was carefully culled by anti-choice groups specifically to make sure.
Senator Collins also told Jake Tapper that she “would not support a nominee who demonstrated hostility to Roe v. Wade.”
- GIANT REALITY CHECK: Senator Collins already voted for Gorsuch, whose beliefs pose a serious threat to a woman’s right to control her own body.
The country will be looking to Senator Collins and Senator Lisa Murkowski—who have both been key votes in protecting health care and reproductive choice in the past—to stand up against any Trump nominee who threatens our care and reproductive freedom.
Will they stand up for women?
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Would your life change if Roe v. Wade was gutted and repealed, criminalizing abortion and punishing women?
Would your life change if we lost affordable health care access, marriage equality, or voting rights safeguards? How about fair pay and sexual harassment protections in the workplace?
We want to hear from you. Share your story with us here.
YOUR TAX DOLLARS TO PUT FAMILIES IN CAGES
In response to massive national and international outcry against his cruel family separation policy, Donald Trump and his appointees are now pursuing another disgusting policy: indefinitely detaining immigrant children behind bars with their parents.
Inhumanity aside, Trump’s insistence on jailing immigrant families will also have a serious cost to taxpayers, according to a new analysis from the Center for American Progress.
The cost?
- $5.6 million per day to jail families seeking asylum.
- $2 billion annually—nearly the entire cost of Trump’s 2019 budget for detention beds.
The beneficiaries? Private prison companies.
Author Sharita Gruberg—associate director of the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress—sums it up perfectly:
“Rather than wasting taxpayer dollars to reward private prison companies, the Trump administration should protect children from the trauma of family separation and family incarceration. The Trump administration created these expensive and inhumane policies—and it can easily end them in order to pursue humane and effective alternatives.”
ICYMI: THINKING CAP LIVE
Can you imagine being sentenced to 55 years behind bars for a first-time marijuana offense?
Weldon Angelos was, and he joined Senator Cory Booker and the Thinking CAP team to discuss the drastic need for real sentencing reform in this country, as well as the vital role activists must play to make these changes happen.
Senator Booker also fills us in on his efforts to reform outdated federal marijuana policies that disproportionately impact people of color.
And a bonus: Senator Booker shares his initial thoughts on Justice Kennedy’s ill-timed SCOTUS retirement.
Listen to the live episode here.