OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Members of a far-left organization have scheduled a protest next week outside of Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home over his decision to dismiss a challenge to a Texas abortion law with which they disagree.
Three years ago, hundreds of women, femmes, and allies undertook a month of bold direct action to stop the Senate from confirming accused sexual predator Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. We warned what would happen,” reads a Facebook event from ShutDownDC.
“And now, in the dead of night, Kavanaugh and four of his colleagues have effectively overturned the right to an abortion,” the post continues, adding that “the right-wing” had already dramatically curtailed abortion access in many states.
In fact, the Texas law that the Supreme Court refused to block only bans abortions after six weeks when fetal heart tones are most often heard.
The law doesn’t ban the procedure completely and does not empower any state agency to enforce the measure.
Rather, it empowers individuals with the right to sue anyone who facilitates an abortion after the six-week mark.
“Make no mistake, what’s happening to reproductive justice and abortion rights is far bigger than one person. But Kavanaugh is playing a key role, and so far he’s been protected from any backlash. No more,” the post threatens, adding: “Brett Kavanaugh: You’re going to hear from us directly.”
“Last week we came to the Supreme Court. But you weren’t there; the justices continue to work remotely. So we’re coming to your house to tell you to keep your oppressive ideology out of our bodies and demand you RESIGN immediately,” the post adds.
The post also asks that attendees be mindful and “inclusive,” falsely stating, “Women and girls are not the only people who can get pregnant and need abortions.”
It adds: “Please avoid comparing U.S. abortion-restricting politicians to the Taliban. The former are a distinctly homegrown phenomenon and ignoring that in favor of such comparisons is Islamophobic.”
The Taliban as an organization is recognized as an international terrorist group, for the record.
In its landmark 1973 decision, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to overturn state laws banning abortion, claiming that the Constitution recognizes the right through what critics called a pained explanation.
Last week’s ruling did not overturn Roe v. Wade, but abortion rights activists are concerned that the high court could do so at some point and have mobilized to oppose any such efforts.
Democrats in Congress also raged about the decision.
“A lot of people don’t know what the shadow docket is. I think we’ll be hearing from scholars as to the abuse of the shadow docket by this Supreme Court because they’ve used the shadow docket to do the thing they just did, basically to overturn Roe v. Wade, 28 times in the Trump years and only four during the entire times of Bush and Obama,” Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii falsely claimed (Roe was not overturned in any way whatsoever).
“So there is in my view the abuse of power of the shadow docket and what’s going to happen probably is more calls for court reform,” she told MSNBC last week.
She went on to suggest term limits for Supreme Court justices, though the founders rejected that idea because they wanted the highest court to remain aloof from politics.
“Why should anyone have lifetime appointments to any job? Therefore as part of the hearing on the shadow docket, I think there will be calls for term limits on the Supreme Court. I would support that kind of debate and discussion,” she said.
“We need court reform. It could [be] term limits by increasing the number of justices on the court. It definitely means applying ethical standards.”