Last night, President Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be the next Supreme Court justice. To be clear, Trump had two litmus tests in selecting Brett Kavanaugh for the Court:
1) overturning Roe v. Wade, and
2) overturning Americans’ health care by gutting protections for those with pre-existing conditions.
Across the country, health care advocates geared up in opposition, urging their senators to reject Judge Kavanaugh, an activist judge who was hand-picked to rubber-stamp President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ war on health care.
Here are some highlights, with more activity on the ground happening today.
In Alaska, Protect Our Care was joined by health care advocates, Alaska Native leaders, and former Alaska Superior Court Judge John Reese to urge Sen. Lisa Murkowski to do what is best for Alaska and reject a justice who won’t protect Alaskans’ care.
- Anchorage Daily News: Protesters rally at Murkowski’s office over Supreme Court pick
- KTVA: Alaskans rally against Trump nominee before choice is made public
- KTUU: Activists call on Lisa Murkowski to carefully vet new Supreme Court nominee
In Maine, Protect Our Care was joined by the Maine Women’s Lobby and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in calling on Sen. Susan Collins to protect pre-existing condition protections and women’s access to health care.
- Washington Post: With Trump’s nominee announced, the battle for the court begins
In Arizona, Jeff Jeans, a cancer survivor joined state Rep. Athena Salman, and representatives from Planned Parenthood and ACLU Arizona urged Senator Flake to stand up for Arizonans’ care.
- Arizona Republic: Arizona groups speak about Supreme Court vacancy, Roe v. Wade
In Nevada, Protect Our Care and Laura Packard, a health care advocate living with cancer, Cyndy Hernandez of NARAL Pro-Choice Nevada, and Sam Shaw of SEIU Nevada Local 1107 urged Sen. Dean Heller to stand up and protect Nevadans’ health care.
In Ohio, Protect Our Care Ohio joined with Innovation Ohio, the Physicians Action Network, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio highlighted the current and long-term threats to health care under a conservative Supreme Court.
In Tennessee, Protect Our Care was joined by a coalition of concerned citizens including Jen Yamin, the mother of a son with pre-existing conditions, Kristen Grimm, the mother of child with special needs, and Anna Carella, Co-Chair of Healthy and Free Tennessee, outside Sen. Bob Corker’s Nashville office.
In West Virginia, Protect Our Care advocates went on the record to make it clear that they want their senators to stand up health care.