In case you haven’t yet heard of Brett Kavanaugh, he is President Trump’s pick as a replacement for Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court, who announced his retirement over the summer. But what will it really mean if Kavanaugh becomes the newest member of the Supreme Court?
Kavanaugh is well known for his involvement in the case for Bill Clinton’s impeachment in the 1990’s, so he’s no stranger to presidential issues and investigations. However, after his time working under George W. Bush, Kavanaugh said he had “…a new appreciation for the demands of the presidency and the toll any legal proceeding could take on the White House.” With this, it is suggested that Kavanaugh supports presidents not being litigated of crimes while they’re still in office, and any legal proceedings for crimes committed while in office should be postponed until term completion. He does note, however, that extreme circumstances exist, and in such instances, impeachment is still an option.
Even though Kavanaugh has been pretty silent about his personal opinions on some divisive topics, his dissent from Obamacare in 2010, the semiautomatic firearms ban in 2011, and a case allowing an undocumented immigrant teen to get an abortion in 2017 speak for him.
President Trump has been very open about his desire to appoint justices that will overturn Roe v. Wade, making Kavanaugh’s previously mentioned dissent a little troublesome. In 2006, Kavanaugh said, “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to give a personal view on that case,” in reference to Roe v. Wade, and that he intended to “follow Roe v. Wade faithfully and fully.” Unfortunately, this was said during hearings for his nomination to the Washington DC Circuit Court, and, as a result, the validity of his statement is questionable.
What has most recently gained negative attention for Kavanaugh is his comment referring to contraception as “abortion-inducing drugs” during a Supreme Court Justice hearing last week. The offending comment stems from a case that reached the DC Circuit Court in 2015 (that Kavanaugh dissented from), Priests for Life v. the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Of course, this phrase is not a desirable definition for contraceptive measures, nor is it scientifically accurate. And although this terminology was not his original phrasing, the fact that he still used it without clarifying it as a reference, and the fact that he supports this kind of position is worrisome nonetheless.
Justice Kennedy has been a swing vote on many past issues and if Kavanaugh is named as the new Supreme Court Justice, issues are likely to swing in favor of the conservative side, leaving birth control and legal abortions in danger. But hey, at least Kavanaugh believes in climate change!