Don’t let Judge Kavanaugh rewind our rights – call your Senators this week!

United States Supreme Court Building

As people with disabilities, we know that every right we have is the result of a hard-won fight. Now, Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court puts everything we have fought for at risk. We can’t let him turn back the clock on disability rights – call your Senators today and tell them to vote NO on Kavanaugh’s nomination.

Putting Judge Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court would be a disaster for people with disabilities. Kavanaugh is opposed to the Affordable Care Act, and thinks parts of it might be illegal. If the Supreme Court decides the ACA is illegal, millions of people will lose access to health care – especially people with disabilities and other pre-existing conditions. As a judge, Kavanaugh has a history of denying disabled people’s rights. 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 they get.

If the Senate votes to confirm Judge Kavanaugh, he will be appointed to the Supreme Court FOR LIFE. His decisions would affect our lives for decades to come, and nothing we do after he is confirmed could change that. We only get one chance to keep Kavanaugh off of the Supreme Court and protect the rights our community has fought so hard for. And with the Senate rushing to start hearings, the time to act is right now.

You know what to do: call your Senators, and tell them to vote NO on Kavanaugh! You can use our script while calling:

Script for calling your Senator
My name is  [your full name] . I’m a constituent of  Senator [Name] , and I live in  [your town] . I’m calling to ask the Senator to vote NOT to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. Judge Kavanaugh would undermine the Affordable Care Act, and he is a danger to the rights of people with disabilities. In 2007, he ruled that people with intellectual disabilities don’t have a right to a say in their health care. He sided with the DC government, which had forced people to have abortions they didn’t want. People with disabilities like  [me/ my family member/ my friends]  have a right to health care, and we have a right to make our own choices about what happens to our bodies. Please keep this dangerous man off the Supreme Court.

If you have calling anxiety 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. 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.

If placed on the Supreme Court, Judge Kavanaugh could be the deciding vote in countless cases affecting our lives. This is a risk we cannot afford. For ourselves, for our communities, and for the next generation of disabled people, we have to act now. Call your Senators and tell them to vote NO on Kavanaugh’s nomination.