(Photo of Brett Kavanaugh and Donald Trump is from NBC News.)Donald Trump promised his evangelical base that he would appoint justices to the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade. Those right-wing evangelicals knew they were in a minority in this country, and most Americans liked to 45 year-old decision that granted women the right to control their own bodies (and choose to have an abortion in the first trimester). They knew the only way they could get their way would be to elect a president that would stack the Supreme Court with right-wingers (who didn't care about established law or the will of the people).
Now they have gotten what they wanted. Donald Trump has picked his second Supreme Court justice, and as he promised, he picked an extreme right-winger. It's Brett Kavanaugh.
Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have said they wouldn't vote for a justice that would overturn Roe v. Wade. But Democrats shouldn't count on either of them. Kavanaugh will just refuse to answer any question about Roe v. Wade, and that will give Collins and Murkowski the cover they need to vote with the other Republicans.
And Roe v. Wade is not the only court decision that's now in deep trouble. We can expect the Obergefell v. Hodges decision (which gave same-sex couples the right to marry) to also be overturned. Kennedy was the fifth vote that kept both of those decisions from being overturned. Now that he is being replaced by Kavanaugh, there are five votes against both Roe and Obergefell.
Without Collins and/or Murkowski, it is very doubtful that Democrats can stop the confirmation of Kavanaugh, and therefore, the deaths of Roe and Obergefell. But they'd better pull out all the stops and try every trick in the book (and invent some new tricks) to stop this disaster. They need to be seen playing the same kind of dirty hardball that the Republicans are famous for.
There is talk of a blue wave in November -- that could flip one or more houses of Congress. But that now depends on Senate Democrats. Both progressive and moderate are extremely unhappy over this pick for the court -- and if they think the Senate Democrats didn't do all they could to stop it, think those Senate Democrats just rolled over and played dead (like they have in the past), they will punish those senators in November. The Senate will stay in Republican hands, and maybe even the House.
The voters are looking for someone to fight against Trump. Congressional Democrats must show they are fighters (win or lose). The time is now -- it's either fight or die.
NOTE -- Some right-wingers have said in the last few days that Roe v Wade is not in trouble. That's a bullshit lie! They've been waiting too long. I expect cases to overturn both Roe and Obergefell to quickly make it to the court. Why would they wait?
