The leaked draft opinion of the Supreme Court regarding the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights case has resulted in public outrage including among the lawmakers who are in support of abortion rights. Activists are now pressuring Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine to lead calls in impeaching two conservative Supreme Court justices.
According to Common Dreams, abortion rights activists are now demanding that Collins lead the call to impeach conservative Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch following the contrast in their statements from their confirmation hearings to the opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito that has their backing.
Collins, a so-called moderate Republican, has repeatedly said that she will not vote to confirm Supreme Court justices who have shown “hostility” towards the Roe v. Wade decision.
The executive director for Mainers for Responsible Leadership Marie Follayttar told the outlet that it is now time for Collins to lead the call to impeach Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
“If Senator Collins believes that both Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh lied to her and to the public during the confirmation processes, we demand that she lead the charge calling for their immediate impeachment,” said Follayttar. “We cannot let public trust in our judicial system – the final check and balance of our democracy – become eroded.”
Shortly after the leak of the draft that was obtained by Politico this week, Collins issued a statement, noting that if the draft is the final decision by the high court, then it would not be in line with Gorsuch and Kavanaugh’s statements during the confirmation hearings and during her private meetings with them.
The Supreme Court is set to issue the opinion, which it has recently confirmed the authenticity of the draft, by the end of its term in June.
According to MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell, Alito may be expected to scrap out a certain part of his opinion on Roe v. Wade, referencing Sir Edward Coke, who supported the death penalty for convicted witches.
O'Donnell noted that around the time Sir Edward Coke wrote back in 1644 that abortion is a crime, the witch trials were still taking place.
O’Donnell then said that Alito’s citing of Sir Edward Coke to justify making abortions illegal due to the fact that people who were still conducting witch trials also believed abortion is a crime underlines the justice’s “twisted reasoning.”