5 Reasons You Should Call Your Senators to #StopKavanaugh

By now, you’ve probably heard of Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court. He’s a current D.C. Circuit judge with a hyperpartisan record and Trump picked him to do two things: gut Roe v. Wade and undermine access to affordable health care. Oh – and it doesn’t hurt that Kavanaugh has had a lot to say about how presidents should be above the law and shouldn’t be investigated while they’re in office, now that Trump’s own lawyer has implicated Trump in a felony. So there’s that, too.

We can’t afford to put another extreme right-wing justice on our nation’s highest court. So we’ve put together five reasons why you should take action right now and tell your Senator that Brett Kavanaugh doesn’t belong on the Supreme Court.

1. Brett Kavanaugh would gut Roe v. Wade and criminalize abortion.

During his campaign, President Trump wasn’t exactly shy when he talked about what he wanted in a Supreme Court justice. Trump specifically said he would appoint “pro-life” judges who would “automatically” overturn Roe v. Wade. He also called for people who had abortions to be punished.

So it wasn’t really a surprise when he nominated Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh has already sent major signals regarding his views of Roe (spoiler alert: they’re not good). Plus, his own clerks have talked about his dedication to enforcing restrictions on abortion. Just recently, in the now-infamous “Jane Doe” case, Kavanaugh tried to block an undocumented minor in government custody from exercising her constitutionally protected right to have an abortion – and was willing to completely disregard key Supreme Court precedent to do so. Kavanaugh’s record is clear: if you’re looking for a fifth vote to gut reproductive rights, he’s your guy.

2. Kavanaugh would take health care away from millions of people.

Trump specifically sought out Supreme Court nominees who were hostile to the Affordable Care Act – and he found one in Brett Kavanaugh. The stakes couldn’t be higher: this administration has come out in favor of a lawsuit that would gut protections for people with preexisting conditions, a case that is making its way through the courts and could land in the Supreme Court. If this effort is successful, 52 million people could lose their health coverage – including cancer survivors, moms, diabetics, and more. Kavanaugh’s record paints a bleak picture for the future of health care. Twice, he’s dissented from rulings upholding the Affordable Care Act. Kavanaugh’s own clerks have said it best: in July 2018, they wrote an article titled “Brett Kavanaugh Said Obamacare Was Unprecedented and Unlawful,” and have written that no other “contender on President Trump’s short list is on record so vigorously criticizing” the Affordable Care Act.

3. It sure looks like Brett Kavanaugh will let Trump do…pretty much whatever he wants.

In case you haven’t noticed, President Trump has a colossal contempt for the rule of law, and a tenuous understanding of the Constitution. Whether he’s demanding loyalty from the FBI director, siding with Vladimir Putin over American intelligence agencies, or ordering his lawyer to break campaign finance laws, Trump poses a new threat to our democracy nearly every day.

Enter Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh has argued that sitting presidents shouldn’t be able to be indicted, that the president should be able to fire a special counsel at will, and that the president should be able to fire any independent counsel he believes is “out to get him.” Basically, for a president who’s constantly flouting the rule of law and currently under investigation, Kavanaugh seems like a great “get out of jail free” card to have in your back pocket.

4. Kavanaugh will put the whims of the wealthy and powerful over the rights of the people.

Brett Kavanaugh has a long history of favoring the wealthy and powerful over the rights of all. He has repeatedly ruled against workers, protections for workers, and safety regulations. He’s tried to nix organizations like the CFPB that are designed to help consumers, sided against net neutrality, and repeatedly ruled to undermine unions.

Kavanaugh will put corporations over workers even in the most extreme cases. When a SeaWorld trainer was killed by a killer whale in a live performance, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the company $75,000 for failing to implement safety measures to protect trainers. While the majority of the court upheld the fine, Kavanaugh dissented, arguing that the idea that employees should be protected from death or significant injury was “paternalistic.”

5. Kavanaugh is bad news for the environment.

Kavanaugh has consistently sided with corporations over families’ health and the environment. He’s struck down EPA protections under the Clean Air Act, fought efforts to fight climate change, and ruled against protections for clean water. And remember the disgraced former EPA head Scott Pruitt? Kavanaugh sided with Pruitt when the Trump Administration was called out for dragging its feet to delay the implementation of an Obama-era EPA rule curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

To pull it all together: Brett Kavanaugh is a terrible choice for SCOTUS, and you need to call your senators NOW. You can find more information on Kavanaugh and a sample call script in our toolkit. So call your senators today and tell them to #StopKavanaugh.