FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2020
Contact: Juan Ramiro Sarmiento
(785) 760-6567 | juan.sarmiento@younginvincibles.org

Statement on SCOTUS Appointment

Washington, DC – Last Saturday, President Trump announced his nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States, tapping Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat previously occupied by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

In response, Rachel Fleischer, Executive Director for Young Invincibles, issued the following statement:

“After months of failing to address the health, economic, and racial justice crises rocking the nation, this President made clear that his real priority is advancing his ideological agenda through the courts at any cost rather than representing the will of the American people.

This weekend’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett is deeply unsettling for the millions of young people whose lives and livelihoods are at stake. Judge Barrett has a written track record of disagreeing with the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, supports restrictions on LGBTQ rights, favors limiting reproductive rights, and advocates tightening the ‘public charge’ rule.

Any nominee to the High Court must be appropriately vetted for a lifetime appointment. This appointment will reshape the court for decades to come and result in significant, material consequences for young people all across America. Chief among those consequences is the potential decimation of access to the full range of reproductive health care, including the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade. Destroying the nationwide right to an abortion would create two health care standards in this country – one where wealthy people can continue to access reproductive health care, and another where young, low-income, and people of color are left without options for safe, legal abortion.

While the future of the Affordable Care Act and Roe v. Wade are front of mind, we cannot forget the longterm impact this nominee will have on issues critically important to young people – the struggle for civil and voting rights, race-conscious college admissions, and immigration.

Throughout history, the Supreme Court has played a pivotal role in both, reversing progress and forging a more perfect union. Generations of Americans have witnessed the court categorize humans as property, uphold ‘Separate but Equal,’ while later expanding the franchise, striking down American apartheid, and legalizing access to abortion. The Supreme Court is only as good as the lifetime appointments that constitute the institution. It is clear Judge Barrett will advance an American jurisprudence that will reverse progress, not defend it.”

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