U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on his intent to vote against cloture and final confirmation for the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
“After meeting with Judge Gorsuch and reviewing his testimony and past decisions, I’ve observed that he has repeatedly taken an activist approach to cases involving a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her health. He has made the astounding argument that bosses have an individual right to prevent their company’s female employees from using their own health insurance to buy contraception. He has taken extraordinary steps to force reconsideration of rulings that preserve access to reproductive health. And he has cavalierly referred to contraceptive use as ‘the wrongdoing of others.’ More than sixty percent of American women of childbearing age use contraception and the right to do so has been constitutionally protected for more than fifty years.
“Judge Gorsuch unquestionably has an impressive professional and educational background, but a nominee to the Supreme Court must also demonstrate sound judicial philosophy. Judge Gorsuch’s selective activism in restricting women’s rights and his framing of women making their own health decisions as ‘the wrongdoing of others’ are jarring and do not demonstrate a philosophy that belongs on the Supreme Court. I will oppose his nomination.”
Kaine practiced as a civil rights lawyer for 17 years with cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court. He also taught constitutional law and legal ethics at the University of Richmond Law School. Kaine also expanded upon his statement by writing a long form piece on Judge Gorsuch’s nomination, here.
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