Memo Arizona
Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Responds to Senate Judiciary Committee Vote on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court Nomination
For Immediate Release: Monday, April 4, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
Washington, DC — Today, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:
“We applaud the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who voted in favor of advancing the historic nomination of Judge Jackson—an incredibly qualified and fair jurist—to the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson has a proven record of upholding our fundamental freedoms and her voice is urgently needed on the Court with our rights under attack. It’s insulting that Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sought to put up another hurdle to impede the confirmation of the first Black woman to the Court by refusing to vote to advance her nomination out of committee today. However, after the full Senate’s expected vote to discharge Judge Jackson’s nomination from the committee, we look forward to being one step closer to having a justice on the Court that we can count on to uphold equal justice for all. We urge the full Senate to swiftly confirm Judge Jackson.”
Judge Jackson is an experienced and distinguished nominee who spent much of her career as an attorney working to achieve civil rights and justice. Her historic position as the first Black woman on the Court will help ensure that all Americans will be better represented on our nation’s highest court. NARAL is proud to support Judge Jackson and our members have come out in force urging their senators to swiftly confirm her. NARAL has worked alongside partners—including the Black Women’s Leadership Collective—to combat racist and sexist disinformation campaigns launched in an attempt to derail her confirmation.
Judge Jackson’s confirmation process comes at a pivotal moment in the fight for our fundamental rights and freedoms, including reproductive freedom. In the coming months, the anti-choice supermajority on the Supreme Court will issue a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case regarding Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban that directly challenges Roe v. Wade and could end the constitutional right to abortion as we know it. If the Supreme Court upholds Mississippi’s ban, it will end Roe’s protections. While Judge Jackson’s confirmation will not impact the outcome of this case, it will shape the future of the Court for future generations.
Should Roe fall, 28 states would likely take action to prohibit abortion outright. Of those, 13 states already have “trigger bans” in place, which would ban abortion automatically. The consequences of overturning Roe would be devastating, and it will send shockwaves to all corners of the country. Even as Roe stands, the evisceration of abortion access is underway in states across the country. With every passing day, abortion access faces greater threats and the impact of these attacks fall hardest on those already face barriers to accessing the care they need—including women; Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; those working to make ends meet; LGBTQ+ people; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.