Statement on the Nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court
BOSTON, Mass.–Rebecca Hart Holder, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, the Commonwealth’s leading grassroots, pro-choice advocacy organization, issued the following statement on Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court:
“With voting already underway, the American people should decide who gets to nominate the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice, not Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell. This nomination is an attack on our democracy and a shameful attempt to solidify the radical right’s influence on the High Court. The Republican Party’s rush to ram through this nomination as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim American lives and decimate economic security—and despite the fact that 77 percent of Americans support the legal right to abortion—shows an appalling disregard for the health, well-being, and will of the American people.
“Amy Coney Barrett’s record shows she is a clear and present threat to reproductive freedom and Roe v. Wade. Much like the nominations of Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, this nomination is yet another attempt by this administration to achieve its ultimate goal of denying us the ability to control our lives, bodies, and futures. If confirmed, Amy Coney Barrett will set our country back decades, to a time before Roe v. Wade. We cannot allow this. No nomination should be considered until after Inauguration Day.
“Locally, our work remains clear. Faced with grave uncertainty about the High Court, the state legislature must pass the ROE Act immediately. Roe v. Wade is the floor, not the ceiling. Immediately following the decision in Roe v. Wade, in the mid-1970s, the Massachusetts legislature passed barriers to abortion care for the sole purpose of restricting access to reproductive health care. These barriers overwhelmingly impact low-income communities and Black and Brown communities, and force people to travel out of state for abortion care. For too many Bay Staters, the right to safe, legal abortion care is a right on paper only. Justice Ginsburg understood that a right that exists solely on paper is no right at all. Massachusetts can honor her legacy and her work–and further its commitment to justice and equality–by passing the ROE Act.”
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Contact:
Jon Latino
978-870-9388