Brett Kavanaugh Is About to Get His Hands on His First Abortion Case

[babylonsister]

https://www.thenation.com/article/trap-abortion-kavanaugh/

Brett Kavanaugh Is About to Get His Hands on His First Abortion Case
We knew this day would come. Susan Collins should have known, too.
By Elie Mystal
Today 1:14 pm


Brett Kavanaugh is about to make Susan Collins look ridiculous. Many people remember Senator Collins’s stomach-turning defense of an alleged attempted rapist on the Senate floor. But her defense of Kavanaugh’s character somewhat masked her equally ludicrous defense of Kavanaugh’s judicial record.

She said of Kavanaugh, “He believes that precedent is not just a judicial policy, it is constitutionally dictated to pay attention and pay heed to rules of precedent.”

That was a lie. Kavanaugh does not respect precedent. And now, he gets a chance to prove it.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case called June Medical Services v. Gee. At issue is a Louisiana law that requires physicians who provide abortion services to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. We call these kinds of laws Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers laws, or “TRAP” laws. The anti-abortion advocates who support them argue that they are trying to make abortions “safer,” but they are really designed to restrict access to abortions to the point where no one can functionally get one.

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The fact that the Supreme Court did not summarily reject the Fifth Circuit’s opinion is why abortion rights advocates, and rule of law advocates, are so troubled. The only significant change in the legal conversation around TRAP laws is that in 2016 Anthony Kennedy was on the court, while now we have Kavanaugh.

That one change should not lead to the reversal of Supreme Court precedent established only a few years ago. But it will. It is because Susan Collins was always lying about Brett Kavanaugh. He doesn’t respect precedent. Louisiana knows it, the Fifth Circuit knows it, and women who want autonomy over their bodies know it all too well. Susan Collins either knew that Kavanaugh would do exactly this, and is therefore a liar, or she was the only person who didn’t know, and is therefore a fool.