EMILYs List Statement on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Nomination

For Immediate Release 
July 9, 2018 

EMILY's List Statement on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court Nomination

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Donald Trump announced his nominee for the Supreme Court seat vacated by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was picked from a shortlist of potential candidates vetted and approved by right-wing groups like the Federalist Society after Trump promised to nominate anti-choice justices. In response, Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“One of Donald Trump's biggest campaign promises was to nominate Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade and do the right wing's bidding, and we take him at his word that he has chosen just that candidate. Whether he's attempting to defund Planned Parenthood, reinstating the global gag rule, rolling back the contraception mandate, or appointing a wave of anti-choice judges to lifetime appointments, Trump has made it clear that he keeps his promises to slash women's rights and access to health care. Any nominee — including Kavanaugh, handpicked by right-wing groups for his views on abortion rights, among other issues — who supports overturning Roe or placing even further restrictions on women's access to reproductive health care is unfit to serve the American people; full stop.”

Donald Trump has repeatedly said he will appoint anti-choice justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. When asked by Chris Wallace in 2016 if he wanted to see the court overturn Roe, Trump replied: “Well, if we put another two or perhaps three justices on, that's really what’s going to be — that will happen and [repealing Roe] will happen automatically in my opinion because I am putting pro-life justices on the court.”

On CBS News in 2016 after the election, Lesley Stahl asked, “During the campaign, you said that you would appoint justices who were against abortion rights. Will you appoint, are you looking to appoint a justice who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade?” Trump responded: “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m pro-life. The judges will be pro-life.”

And of course, Donald Trump supports punishing women who seek out reproductive health care; saying he supports “some form of punishment” for women who have an abortion.

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.