Senator Chuck Grassley Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Washington, DC 20510

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Leonard Parsons
5 years ago
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1 Senator Chuck Grassley Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Washington, DC Senator Dianne Feinstein Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Washington, DC August 21, 2018 Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Feinstein, We, the undersigned, write in steadfast opposition to the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh. We believe his nomination to the Supreme Court poses a dire threat to women s health and wellbeing. Specifically, we are concerned about what his confirmation to the Supreme Court could mean for the 67 million women and girls with pre-existing conditions. 1 The threat Judge Kavanaugh poses to women s reproductive health has been well documented. His appointment would be a disaster for women s reproductive health, including access to abortion and contraception. President Trump has been clear that he will only appoint justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade automatically 2 and undo the legal right to abortion care. Judge Kavanaugh was selected for that very reason. 3 When Judge Kavanaugh had the opportunity to block access to abortion care, he jumped at it: he recently voted to prevent a young immigrant woman from accessing the abortion care she wanted, arguing for a delay in her release that could have made it too late for her to legally access abortion. 4 He has also ruled against disabled women's right to make their own choices regarding their own reproductive health care - issuing a ruling upholding a DC government policy that had led to two involuntary abortions. 5 Additionally, there are threats to women s health moving through the courts. Cases involving the Affordable Care Act s (ACA) prohibition on discrimination based on preexisting conditions are working their way through the court system and may, ultimately, end up at the Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh already expressed his opposition to the ACA. Judge Kavanaugh openly criticized Chief Justice Roberts for his decision to uphold the health care law 6 and, from the bench, repeatedly voiced his opposition to the ACA, 7 including by suggesting that a president could decline to enforce this lifesaving legislation if he personally deems it unconstitutional. 8 Women simply cannot return to the discriminatory practices that were pervasive before the ACA. For example, in the individual insurance market, a woman could be denied coverage or charged a higher premium if she had experienced HIV or AIDS,, diabetes, lupus, an eating disorder, pregnancy or a previous Cesarean birth, just to name a few. 9 Recent estimates find that more than half of women and girls nationally (over 67 million) have

2 preexisting conditions. 10 There also are nearly six million pregnancies each year, a common reason for denying women coverage on the individual market before the ACA. 11 The data make clear that allowing insurers to return to pre-aca practices could mean millions of women being denied coverage or charged more based on their health status if they ever sought coverage in the individual market. Women s health, wellbeing, and economic security indeed, their very lives are all at risk with Judge Kavanuagh s nomination. We urge the Senate to stand with the millions of women and girls who would be left without affordable, comprehensive, quality care and to reject Judge Kavanaugh s nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. Sincerely, Advocates for Youth AIDS United American Academy of Nursing American Association of University Women American Muslim Health Professionals Athlete Ally Black Women s Health Imperative Black Women s Roundtable Center for American Progress Center for Popular Democracy Action CLASP Community Catalyst Equal Rights Advocates Feminist Majority Foundation GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality GLSEN Health Care for America Now Jacob s Institute of Women s Health Jobs With Justice Justice in Aging NAACP NARAL Pro-Choice America National Asian Pacific American Women s Forum (NAPAWF) National Black Justice Coalition National Center for Transgender Equality National Consumers League National Equality Action Team (NEAT) National Health Law Program National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) National Partnership for Women & Families National Women s Law Center Outserve SLDN

3 Physicians for Reproductive Health Raising Women s Voices for the Health Care We Need The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity Voices for Progress Women s Law Project YWCA Asheville YWCA Berkeley/Oakland YWCA Bethlehem YWCA Binghamton & Broome County YWCA Boston YWCA Central Alabama YWCA Central Massachusetts YWCA Clark County YWCA Evanston/North Shore YWCA Greater Pittsburgh YWCA Madison YWCA Mahoning Valley YWCA Mount Desert Island YWCA New Britain YWCA NorthEastern New York YWCA of Greater Atlanta YWCA of Rochester & Monroe County YWCA of Spokane YWCA of Syracuse and Onondaga County Inc. YWCA of University of Illinois YWCA of Van Wert County YWCA Olympia YWCA Pierce County YWCA Quad Cities YWCA Rhode Island YWCA San Francisco & Marin YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts YWCA Titusville YWCA USA YWCA Western New York YWCA-GCR CC: Senator Richard Blumenthal Senator Cory Booker Senator Shelly Moore Capito Susan M. Collins Senator Christopher A. Coons Senator John Cornyn

4 Senator Mike Crapo Senator Ted Cruz Senator Joe Donnelly Senator Dick Durbin Senator Jeff Flake Senator Lindsey Graham Senator Kamala Harris Senator Orrin G. Hatch Senator Heidi Heitkamp Senator Mazie Hirono Senator John Hoeven Senator Doug Jones Senator Angus S. King, Jr. Senator John Kennedy Senator Amy Klobuchar Senator Patrick Leahy Senator Michael S. Lee Senator Joe Manchin, III Senator Claire McCaskill Senator Lisa Murkowski Senator Ben Sasse Senator Richard C. Shelby Senator Dan Sullivan Senator Thom Tillis Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Senator Todd Young 1 2 In the final October 2016 presidential debate, Trump replied to a question about whether he would appoint judges to overturn Roe v. Wade by saying, Well, if we put another two or perhaps three justices on, that s really what s going to be that will happen,... And that ll happen automatically, in my opinion, because I am putting pro-life justices on the court. I will say this: It will go back to the states, and the states will then make a determination. Berman, M. (2017, March 21). Trump Promised Judges Who Would Overturn Roe v. Wade. Washington Post. Retrieved 14 July 2018, from 3 Compare the Supreme Court nominee shortlist that President-elect Trump released on January 12, 2017, with the shortlist released on November 17, 2017, just weeks after Judge Kavanaugh s dissent in Garza v. Hargan. See de Vogue, A. (2017, January 12). CNN s Donald Trump Supreme Court Nominee Shortlist. CNN. Retrieved 14 July 2018, from White House. (2017, November 17). President Donald J. Trump s Supreme Court List. Retrieved 14 July 2018, from 4 Garza v. Hargan, No , 2017 WL (Oct. 19, 2017). 5 Doe ex Rel. Tarlow v. District of Columbia, 489 F.3d 376, 379 (D.C. Cir. 2007), reversing Jane Does I through III v. District of Columbia, 232 F.R.D. 18 (D.D.C. 2005).

5 6 The Heritage Foundation. (2017, October 25). The Joseph Story Distinguished Lecture. Retrieved 14 July 2018, from 7 Seven-Sky v. Holder, 661 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2011) (Kavanaugh, J., dissenting), cert. denied, 567 U.S. 951 (2012); Sissel v. U.S. Dep t of Health & Human Servs., 799 F.3d 1035 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (Kavanaugh, J., dissenting), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 925 (2016). 8 Seven-Sky, 661 F.3d at 50 n.43 (Kavanaugh, J., dissenting) ( Under the Constitution, the President may decline to enforce a statute that regulates private individuals when the President deems the statute unconstitutional, even if a court has held or would hold the statute constitutional. ). 9 National Women s Law Center. (2008). Nowhere to Turn: How the Individual Health Insurance Market Fails Women. Retrieved 19 June 2018, from Kaiser Family Foundation. (2016). Pre-existing Conditions and Medical Underwriting in the Individual Insurance Market Prior to the ACA. Retrieved 19 June 2018 from

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