Washington, D.C. — After President Donald Trump announced his pick to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat, Neera Tanden, CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, issued the following statement:
President Trump and Senate Republicans are attempting to rush through a Supreme Court nominee who would vote to take health care away from more than 20 million Americans and put 135 million Americans with preexisting conditions at risk. They want Amy Coney Barrett to rubber-stamp their right-wing agenda against the wishes of the American people, who are already in the process of voting for the next president.
Just one week after the election, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in a case that could mean the end of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—creating total chaos and leaving millions without coverage in the middle of a pandemic—and more than 7 million coronavirus survivors who would be discriminated against based on their preexisting condition. But the assault on our rights doesn’t stop at the ACA. This nominee wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. She would lead an assault on workers’ rights, voting rights, and the rights of disabled people and jeopardize the guarantee of equality that has been essential for women’s progress, LGBTQ progress, and for everyone under the law.
President Trump has made clear he wants “his” judges to serve his personal, political goals on the bench—a direct assault on the legitimacy and independence of the judiciary. The unprecedented rush to fill a Supreme Court vacancy so close to an election makes it clear that Trump is trying to corrupt the court.
Barrett has been obsessive in her desire to repeal the ACA, attacking both Supreme Court decisions upholding the law and leaving no doubt she would vote to take away health care for millions. It’s no wonder that President Trump, who shares her obsession, has chosen her. Opposed by virtually every civil rights organization in the country when nominated for her current position on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Barrett has a long history of hostility to the ACA and opposes abortion rights and access to contraceptives.
Barrett’s support for disregarding precedent is extremely dangerous, particularly for reproductive rights and LGBTQ equality. And if that isn’t enough, Barrett has also issued decisions that curtail protections for workers of color and older workers. Her involvement as an advocate in Bush v. Gore shows why President Trump may expect her to be a partisan operative in any litigation around the election, as she would be the third sitting justice who worked on that recount.