Following a filibuster led by the U.S. Senate Democrats, a near party-line vote of 52 to 48 confirmed President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nomination for the open Supreme Court Justice seat. The nominee in question was Amy Coney Barrett, a historically Conservative judge with an influence from her religious values as a devout Catholic. This nomination was heavily controversial and opposed mainly by Democrats, many of which had proclaimed that this nomination was hypocritical from the Republican party. Their reasoning behind this was due to a Republican vote against former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination in 2016, as the presidential election was seven months away at the time.
According to the New York Times, Republicans claimed that this nomination, though only weeks away from the 2020 presidential election, is within Trump’s constitutional rights as President of the United States. A topic that had been widely under fire with this nomination has been Roe v. Wade, a landmark ruling established in 1973 that declared women have the right to safe abortion without federal government interference, along with setting a precedence for many female bodily autonomy decisions. This decision was passed with a 7 to 2 majority vote but widely criticized since President Trump has taken office and been widely outspoken about his and Vice President Mike Pence’s pro-life stance.
In regards to questions about Judge Coney Barrett’s qualifications, many have been headstrong in supporting her. She sat on the 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals court for three years and was a professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Law School since being hired in 2002. According to CNBC, she clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia and was outspoken in her support for his judicial philosophy. Her confirmation is a solid win for the conservatives in the United States and President Trump himself has praised her work, saying that she is more than qualified for the job and will aid in achieving his platform’s agenda.
Along with a multitude of other rulings, many have described her views on abortion as being pro-life and alligning with the Conservative Party. Antioch Community High School Max Ness spoke on Judge Coney Barrett’s predicted rulings in the case of Roe v. Wade.
“I honestly think that the only thing she will try to change that is religiously motivated would be abortion,” Ness said. “I definitely think she will try to change the laws about abortion, which can be argued to be a good thing.”
Though her stance on abortion has been mainly consistent, many fear how she will respond to other rulings in regards to the protection of women’s rights and the LGBTQ+ community. ACHS senior Audrey Selander expressed her worries about Coney Barrett’s confirmation into the Supreme Court.
“Unfortunately, the greed and selfishness of the Republicans that have allowed this confirmation to be made will now put the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community in grave danger for many years to come,” Selander said. “I wish the people who made this confirmation possible would have considered what was best for the entirety of America, rather than what was best for their individual party.”
According to NPR, this new justice would have been vehemently opposed by the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as she had exclaimed to her granddaughter, Clara Spera, on her deathbed that her most fervent wish was to not be replaced until a new president is inaugurated.
With Republicans voting to confirm Judge Coney Barrett into the Supreme Court, this process has been nothing short of disputed amongst the divided American people. Regardless, Judge Amy Coney Barrett was sworn into the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning, October 27, 2020 by Chief Justice John Roberts.
