In response to the second day of the hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement:

“On issue after issue Brett Kavanaugh made clear in today’s hearing that he’s exactly what women, what people with preexisting conditions and what everyone who cares about the rule of law has feared him to be. In discussing abortion rights, Kavanaugh refused to state that Roe and related cases were rightly decided even as he praised other Supreme Court decisions, and his explanation of his decision limiting the rights of an undocumented woman to obtain an abortion was deeply disturbing. He refused not just to foreclose the possibility that he’d take away protections for people with preexisting conditions, but actually left open the possibility that Donald Trump could unilaterally eliminate those protections. And, as his response to Senator Coons’ questioning made clear, he’s deeply hostile to laws that limit presidential power and protect criminal investigations into of the president. Perhaps just as importantly, Senator Leahy and Senator Durbin raised very real concerns that Kavanaugh had previously lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Brett Kavanaugh made one thing painfully clear: Republicans are running a corrupt process in order to confirm a nominee who simply can’t be trusted to protect the rights of all Americans. There’s no question that rather than approaching each case[s] with an open mind, Brett Kavanaugh would use a seat on the Supreme Court to push a partisan political agenda that would hurt ordinary Americans who need to be able to look to the Supreme Court to protect their rights.”

PFAW is also publishing regular fact checks throughout the hearings. Here are selected fact checks so far:

• Kavanaugh Follows the Law without Respect to Parties? Nope.
• Grassley Says Kavanaugh’s Time as Staff Secretary is Irrelevant. Kavanaugh Disagrees.
• Judges Just Call Balls and Strikes. Not according to Brett Kavanaugh.
• Kavanaugh Praises U.S. v. Nixon (After Suggesting It Should Be Overturned)
• Yes, the Federalist Society Knows a Lot About Brett Kavanaugh
• Republicans and Kavanaugh Mislead on How Often SCOTUS Adopts Kavanaugh’s Reasoning

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy. Learn more: https://www.pfaw.org.

# # #