ACB confirmation: Planned Parenthood vows to unite women voters and defeat all GOP senators who voted for judge
Judge Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and take a seat in the Supreme Court of the United States on October 26, with just a week to go for the 2020 election, which has left Planned Parenthood furious. As a result, the organization has reportedly vowed to take down the Republican senators who voted in support of her filling the vacant SCOTUS seat.
According to sources from the organization that provides sexual health care in the United States and globally, who spoke to TMZ, Planned Parenthood plans to use the fullest extent of their voter outreach this election with the singular goal of getting as many women to vote as possible and make sure to defeat any incumbent GOP senators who voted in favor of ACB. As reported by CNN, the vote was 52-48. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is up for re-election, was the only GOP senator to vote with Democrats against the nomination after having expressed concerns that it's too close to Election Day to consider a nominee.
To that end, the non-profit has started an initiative called 'We Decide 2020' which spans across 50 states. It is a virtual volunteer program that aims to recruit hundreds of people and train them on how to spread awareness about the local and state politicians that are on the ballots and what they stand for, especially their stance on women's reproductive rights. Some of the battleground states like Montana, Iowa, Georgia and Colorado have GOP Senators up for re-election. Planned Parenthood is also turning its focus on states like Pennsylvania, Florida and Wisconsin, which will prove to be significant in this presidential race.
With women's rights hanging in the balance, Planned Parenthood feels Barrett's confirmation was deliberately rushed through to give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court. The organization, that supports access to abortion as a constitutional right, said that Trump and the Republican senators who voted for Barrett demonstrated "a blatant power grab that threatens the causes and people it advocates for every day." It added: "We will help ensure this is the last Supreme Court confirmation they take part in while in office."
A 2018 LA Times report states that ACB's belief that life begins at conception is the basis for both her supporters and critics to believe she would be crucial to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that established a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. Some Republican strategists see it as a smart move for Trump to appoint a conservative woman to the Supreme Court if battles over abortion and religion come up. During her 2017 confirmation hearing for a seat on the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, ACB said: “If you're asking whether I take my faith seriously and I'm a faithful Catholic, I am. Although I would stress that my personal church affiliation or my religious belief would not bear in the discharge of my duties as a judge."