Since before there was a self-advocacy movement, our community has fought for the right to be in control in our own lives. Now, a nominee to the Supreme Court threatens the progress we have made. Judge Brett Kavanaugh doesn’t believe that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have the right to make our own decisions—and that’s exactly why we don’t want him making decisions about our country’s laws. Call your Senators TODAY and tell them to vote NO on Kavanaugh’s nomination.
In 2007, Kavanaugh ruled against 3 women with intellectual disabilities who had been forced to have abortions or other elective surgeries by the city of DC. In this ruling, he said that people with intellectual disabilities do not have the right to have any say at all in what kind of health care we get. If Kavanaugh becomes a Supreme Court Justice, we can expect to see more decisions like this one: decisions that reject disability rights, deny our right to control our own bodies, and let other people make our most personal decisions for us. Remember, a Supreme Court appointment is FOR LIFE—if Kavanaugh is appointed, his decisions will affect us for decades to come.
We don’t have a moment to lose: Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings begin NEXT WEEK. Call your Senators and tell them to vote NO on Kavanaugh! You can use our script while calling:
If you have trouble making phone calls or use AAC, our factsheet gives you strategies you can use to call your Senators. If you want more information about Judge Kavanaugh, including a plain language explainer, check out this resource page.
Once you’ve finished calling, here are some other steps you can take:
- Visit your Senators’ state offices, and let their staff know how Kavanaugh’s confirmation would affect you and the people you love. This kind of face-to-face meeting really makes a difference. You can find lists of your Senators’ state offices on their websites.
- Email or fax your Senators. You can use the same script you did while calling.
Judge Kavanaugh wants to make decisions for the whole country, but he doesn’t respect our right to make decisions in our own lives. Our Senators need to decide now where they stand. Call your Senators today, and tell them: from our homes to our health care, from our self-determination to the Supreme Court—there can be Nothing About Us, Without Us!