This Website Just Made it Even Easier to Pressure Your Senator to Save Roe v. Wade
In a last-ditch effort to block the Supreme Court confirmation of SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh and save Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health advocates are using the viral hashtags #StopKavanaugh and #DearSenators to draw attention to a website that is making it even easier for ordinary voters to have their voices heard.
Planned Parenthood has set up the website dearsenators.org to allow anyone across the country to explain to demand that their senators help protect Roe v. Wade by not voting to confirm Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing will begin on September 4, giving concerned voters a couple of weeks to send messages or make phone calls and try to pressure their senators not to approve Trump’s second SCOTUS nomination. According to Roll Call, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants the Senate to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination by the end of September.
🔊 #DearSenators, we care about #RoevWade. Now is the time to make sure they know that for their constituents, the fight against Brett Kavanaugh is personal. Share your own message to #StopKavanaugh: https://t.co/K1KcTwZI0Q pic.twitter.com/Z3pv5ltKzD
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) August 8, 2018
#DearSenators, I need you to #StopKavanaugh to #SaveRoe because if we lose our right to an abortion, we lose our freedom. Period. pic.twitter.com/KjUjfP3FxO
— YH 연희 (@parkyhee) August 8, 2018
#DearSenators: “Because I was able to access Planned Parenthood’s services, I was able to receive a safe, professional abortion as well as the support I needed at that time in my life.”
Tell your story: https://t.co/K1KcTxhjpq pic.twitter.com/1LFjtzX9vy
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) August 16, 2018
President Trump recently nominated the right-wing judge to the Supreme Court. Observers are confident that any Trump nominee to SCOTUS will result in serious damage to, or the total repeal of, Roe v. Wade, and Kavanaugh’s record suggests he’s no exception.
Given all this, it’s no surprise that Kavanaugh is wildly unpopular among women. According to a new CNN poll, less than 30 percent of women approve of Kavanaugh, with just 37 percent of people overall saying they approve. CNN notes that this is one of the lowest popularity ratings among Supreme Court nominees across four presidential administrations.
NARAL Pro-Choice America is planning a national day of action called “Unite for Justice 2018” on August 26 in protest of Kavanaugh’s nomination. The Unite for Justice website warns that, if confirmed, “Kavanaugh would rule against reproductive freedom, health care, the environment, voting rights, workers’ rights, LGBTQ rights, and immigrant rights for generations.”
Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in Congress, with 51 seats (including that of John McCain, who has been away from Capitol Hill as he contends with cancer) compared to the Democrats’ 49. As of July 30, there were eight Democratic senators saying they were currently undecided about voting for Kavanaugh, with the majority of Democrats saying they plan to oppose the nomination, according to CNN. Only three Republicans were undecided.
If Kavanaugh is appointed to the Supreme Court, it will be comprised of five conservatives and four liberals.
Kavanaugh recently came under national scrutiny when he made a ruling that sought to prevent an undocumented teenage girl from getting an abortion. The minor was able to get an abortion eventually, but Kavanaugh’s attempts to stall and stop the abortion highlight the kind of anti-abortion and anti-immigrant decisions that can be expected from him on the Court.
What do you think? Tell us on Twitter @BritandCo.
(Illustration by Sarah Tate / Brit + Co)