Democrats Use Healthcare Worries Against Kavanaugh

Kavanaugh
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Neil Munro

Progressive leaders and top Democrats are using the public’s worries about healthcare to deep six President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“In selecting Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court, President Trump has put reproductive rights and freedoms and health care protections for millions of Americans on the judicial chopping block,” said a statement from Sen. Chuck Schumer, the  Democrats’ leader in the Senate. The statement repeatedly commingled abortion with actual healthcare concerns, saying:

His own writings make clear that he would rule against reproductive rights and freedoms, and that he would welcome challenges to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act …

“If Americans believe in a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices, and that health insurance companies shouldn’t be able to charge people more based on pre-existing conditions, now is the time to fight. I’m calling on Americans from all walks of life to make their voices heard from now until the end of this battle.

Healthcare is a top issue for Democratic-leaning voters in 2016, and Democratic leaders are trying to make that issue a centerpiece of their November campaign.

For example, a June 24 poll by Harvard-Harris reported that 33 percent of women included health care in their top three issues. A June poll by the pro-Obamacare Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation showed that 50 percent of adults have a “very” or “somewhat” favorable view of the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare.

“The next Justice will likely be the deciding vote on whether Americans will keep affordable health insurance for pre-existing conditions,” began the statement from the Democrats’ deputy leaders in the Senate, Sen. Dick Durbin.

Kavanaugh’s nomination “is a clear and disrespectful assault on the fundamental rights of women and one the quality affordable health care of the American people,” said a statement from Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate.

A media call by progressive leaders shortly after the announcement also showed a concerted push to use healthcare concerns against Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh will “sabotage” Obamacare, said Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Trump has “sought to sabotage the ACA,” said Miguel Rodriguez, senior vice president for government affairs at Center for American Progres. The resulting court “cases could someday soon find their way to the Supreme Court.”

Democrats have the public on their side in the healthcare disputes, said Chris Kang, chief counsel at Demand Justice.

 

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