Enough, already!
Bring out the hankies.
The unelected, appointed-for-life, ultra-right justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are in danger of getting their feelings hurt — this time by righteous protesters determined to protect their right to decide for themselves whether or not to carry a child to term.
As revealed by a report leaked May 2, Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney-Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and possibly Chief Justice John Roberts intend to take that most basic right away.
Get ready for another tearful performance by Kavanaugh, reminiscent of the testimony at his 2018 Senate confirmation hearing, after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford went public about the future justice’s sexual assault on her when she was 15.
Now this woman-hater and his family, along with all the justices and their families, will have beefed-up security at taxpayer expense. In a disgusting display of “bipartisanship,” all 100 U.S. senators signed off on a bill — making a formal vote unnecessary — to allow the added protection after peaceful protests occurred outside some justices’ homes.
Not only conservatives but “liberal” politicians and media are declaring the protests illegal and wrong. “It’s just not appropriate, nor is it legal to do it at the residence of justices,” said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. (Washington Post, May 12) “The President may choose to characterize protests, riots and incitements of violence as mere passion,” said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. “But these attempts to influence and intimidate members of the federal judiciary are an affront to judicial independence.” (CNN, May 12) Grassley and Youngkin are both Republicans.
Not to be outdone, Democratic Illinois Senator Dick Durbin called the demonstrations “reprehensible.” (New York Times, May 12)
President Joe Biden’s administration has come under attack for not denouncing the protests outright, only calling on them to remain peaceful. So far the protests have consisted of candlelight vigils and pickets with signs, no one even setting foot on the justices’ property. Hardly threatening acts.
We agree with protester Lacie Wooten-Holway, who has been outside the home of her neighbor Kavanaugh: “We can be noncivil,” if the court decides what women and pregnant people can do “with the only literal home we’ll have for the rest of our lives, which is our bodies.”
Even if the court members had a reason to feel unsafe, what is that compared to the life-threatening terror of making abortion illegal again? And what did SCOTUS ever do to stop decades of neofascist terror waged by “pro-lifers”— the murders of doctors and clinic escorts, the bombings, the violent menacing of staff and patients?
Meanwhile, the very Senate that unanimously agreed to “protect” the SCOTUS justices has denied the protection of basic health rights to women and gender-nonconforming people who can bear children. On May 11 senators voted 51 to 49 to kill the Women’s Health Care Protection Act, which would have given federal protection to abortion service providers — a right supported by the majority of people in the U.S.
Women and gender-oppressed people have the right to demand reproductive justice by any means necessary — legal, peaceful, civil or otherwise. These “justices” need to be held accountable for their actions, which will result in countless deaths.
Our rights supersede the bogus safety concerns of a high court dominated by misogynistic, racist, bigoted and contemptible vermin.
