Virginia Organizing, Harrisonburg Indivisible host #StopKavanaugh event

As part of a nationwide day of action, Virginia Organizing and Harrisonburg Indivisible will hold a Community Call to Action on Women’s Equality Day, August 26, to educate the public about President Trump’s latest nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and his position on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including pre-existing condition protections and provisions that stop gender discrimination.

The event will feature community leaders and activists discussing the potential implications of confirming Kavanaugh to the court in light of current controversy over the President’s potential role in illegal activities as well as pending health care lawsuits that could be decided by the next Supreme Court. Kavanaugh has argued that sitting Presidents should be immune from investigation and prosecution.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is planning hearings on Kavanaugh’s nomination in early September that coincide with opening arguments in the Texas v. Azar lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the ACA and could overturn provisions that protect against discrimination against pre-existing conditions, including gender. Around 364,614 Virginians depend on the ACA, for their healthcare, including 139,477 women and 119,495 women of color.

More than half of all women and girls have pre-existing conditions that can include anything from pregnancy and c-sections to mental illness and high blood pressure. Overall, pre-existing conditions affect 3,441,300 people in Virginia.

Event organizers have also voiced concern over Judge Kavanaugh’s extreme positions on other issues.

“His confirmation would shift the balance of the Supreme Court and could jeopardize women’s reproductive freedoms, marriage equality, voting rights, environmental protections, immigration rights, the balance of power between workers and corporations, the ability of the Special Counsel to hold the President accountable and much more,” said Heather Banks, a leader in the Harrisonburg/Rockingham County Chapter of Virginia Organizing.

“Since the President has been implicated in a felony by his personal attorney and is under investigation by the Special Counsel, the Kavanaugh confirmation must be put on hold until we have more facts and the American people have voted in November,” said John Schaldach from Harrisonburg Indivisible.

Speakers will urge Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner to protect the ACA, which brought the number of uninsured women to historical lows and ended gender discrimination in healthcare, by rejecting Kavanaugh’s nomination.