Pictured is Brett Kavanaugh. Photo from Kavanaugh’s official twitter page.

By LaRey Wright

Brett Kavanaugh has been officially confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, replacing former U.S. Suprement Court Justice Judge Anthony Kennedy. During his years on the court, Kenney tended to vote liberally regarding women’s rights issues. Kavanaugh, on the other hand, has a long history of fighting against a woman’s right to control her own body.

Republicans believed that nominating Brett Kavanaugh will help them to repeal the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which made abortions legal across America. Kavanaugh has made strong arguments to give employers the right to deny women insurance coverage for birth control.

In 2017, he voted against a 17-year-old detained immigrant woman who was being denied the right to an abortion. In another case, he ruled against two women who complained about being forced to have abortions.

Kavanaugh has also been accused of disrespecting women on a personal level. Prior to his appointment, several women came forward with sexual harassment accusations against Kavanaugh.

Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University, was the first woman to inform officials that she had been held down by one man while Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school in the late 1980s.

Shortly after Ford’s accusation more women came forward citing similar stories.
Julie Swetnick, who also attended Georgetown Preparatory School with Kavanaugh in the 1980s, claims to have witnessed more of his misogynistic ways. She reported that she and Kavanaugh were both in attendance at parties where women were being groped, verbally abused, drugged and sexually assaulted.

With these accusations emerging just days before Kavanaugh was set to be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, critics blamed the accusations on a ploy by the Democratic Party to keep Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court.

While the investigation did not prevent Kavanaugh’s confirmation, it does not invalidate Christine Ford’s accusations. Ford had already described the attack to her marriage counselor back in 2012.

Women have made many strides in obtaining equal rights and the basic right to control their own bodies since Roe vs Wade. Kavanaugh has used his time as a judge to vote against women’s rights. The future of women’s rights is now unclear as a result of under Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the high court.