As you probably know if you’ve been following political news, on October 26th, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States. This was despite it being only eight days before the election, and a complete contradiction to how the 2016 vacancy was treated during Obama’s term. Barrett’s confirmation simply goes to show that elections have real consequences. If you aren’t thinking about voting, or don’t want to, here’s why you should.
Simply put, choosing not to vote means you have privilege in this country. Minorities, including women, people of color, and those who identify as LGBTQ+, currently have their rights on the line. This has just been made even more clear by Barrett’s confirmation. With the Supreme Court now leaning further conservative, 6-3, if Trump gets re-elected there is no telling how much power he will have in reshaping laws in favor of rolling back human rights.
Barrett is part of a highly religious organization called People of Praise, which believes women should be subservient to their husbands. According to this Washington Post article, she also held the title of “handmaid,” a leadership position specifically for women within the group. (Anyone who has read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood probably finds this questionable.) As a judge in Indiana she considered three laws restricting abortions, and it is speculated she would be interested in overturning Roe v Wade. This also opens up the possibility of Planned Parenthood being defunded, which would restrict access not only to abortions, but also general healthcare, birth control, and STD and cancer screenings, especially in low-income communities. She has used homophobic language when discussing LGBTQ+ people and refused to say whether she agreed with the 2015 Supreme Court ruling making gay marriage legal. Additionally, she does not believe transgender people should be protected under Title IX.
If you are under the age of 26 and on your parents’ health insurance, then you should be worried too. Barrett has criticized the Affordable Care Act, and if repealed like Trump plans, many young people would no longer be protected. Not to mention this could be detrimental to people with pre-existing conditions. And if all this is not concerning enough, her background as a judge is disturbing, particularly with a case where she played a part in overturning an award of millions of dollars to a nineteen-year-old inmate who claimed she was repeatedly raped by a prison guard.
If you believe in human rights, social justice or simply equality for all, you need to make your voice heard. You may think a two-party system is unjust, or that the electoral college does not represent a true democracy (which, trust me, I agree with!), but if you want to ensure that Trump does not stand a chance of staying in office—which he will fight for by claiming the results are fraudulent if he loses—then you need to make sure the gap is wide between his and Biden’s total votes.
Things may look bleak now, but you have a chance to make a difference in what could be the most consequential election of our generation. So go out and vote. And vote blue.
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