NIRH Warns Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Poses Grave Threat To Reproductive Freedom

Senate Must Vote Down Any Nominee Who Fails to Affirm Support for Individual Liberties, Including
the Right to Abortion

Statement by National Institute for Reproductive Health President Andrea Miller

New York, NY – Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH), released the following statement today assailing President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, while pledging local and statewide efforts to push back on anticipated attempts to criminalize abortion or further erode constitutional protections for women’s access to reproductive health care.

“President Trump has fulfilled his reckless, blanket vow to appoint only justices to the Supreme Court who are willing to overturn Roe v. Wade with the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. This nomination poses a real and immediate threat to one of our most basic rights and places our freedom to make fundamental decisions about our reproductive lives in great peril,” said Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health.

“Judge Kavanaugh’s record speaks for itself: he tried to block an undocumented minor in government custody from exercising her right to obtain an abortion; in a case challenging the Affordable Care Act, he wrote a dissenting opinion that would have kept alive a frivolous attack on access to contraception; and he has consistently ruled against workers and the environment. Kavanaugh satisfied Trump’s litmus test as a person who, if confirmed, would ‘automatically’ overturn Roe v. Wade.

Working with our partners all across the country, we will meet this challenge head-on. We call on the Senate to reject this and any nominee who refuses to affirm support for individual liberty and the right of all people to make personal decisions about their bodies and their personal relationships – including the right to use contraception and the right to have an abortion. At the same time, we will continue our work to build in new protections for reproductive freedom in cities and states across the country. NIRH firmly believes that the best defense against a hostile Supreme Court is a proactive offense at the state and local level.”

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The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) builds power at the state and local levels
to change public policy, galvanize public support, and normalize women’s decisions about abortion and contraception.