NIRH Condemns Trump’s Nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Tara Sweeney, [email protected], 917-488-0094 
September 26, 2020 

Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH), released the following statement today assailing both President Trump’s decision to nominate a Supreme Court Justice before the voters have spoken and his selection of conservative, activist jurist Amy Coney Barrett. 

“This nomination represents a travesty of justice. With 38 days until the election, with the majority of people across this country vehemently opposed to this president, and in the midst of a pandemic that has claimed 200,000 lives, Trump and his enablers in the Senate are trying to thwart the will of the people and rush through a confirmation for another radical ideologue to the nation’s highest Court. Trump is making a farce of democratic principles. 

Amy Coney Barrett’s history – her criticisms of the Affordable Care Act, which has provided a lifeline for millions of Americans to access health care as well as birth control coverage; hostility to people being able to make decisions about their reproductive lives, illustrated by her judicial record siding with burdensome state restrictions on abortion access; and ultra conservative alliances — indicate that she would provide an additional vote on the Court to deal fatal blows to gender justice, racial justice, economic justice, LGBTQ rights, and abortion access. 

We call on the Senate to respect our democracy by waiting to fill this Supreme Court vacancy until the voters have spoken and the victor in the Presidential race is inaugurated. We must ensure that the next justice is committed to advancing freedom and justice for all communities. The legacy of a brilliant jurist who dedicated her life to moving our nation on a path toward justice deserves no less.” 

*** 

The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) is an advocacy group that works directly with state and local reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations and allied groups to protect and advance access to reproductive healthcare. Our strategy is to go on the offensive to pass laws that safeguard reproductive freedom. NIRH partners with communities to build coalitions, launch campaigns, and successfully advocate for policy change, so the fabric of reproductive freedom is harder to tear apart.