On the morning of April 1, a small crowd gathered in front of the U.S. District Court in Seattle to voice their objection to the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. This gathering was one of 15 held across the country in an attempt to pressure Senators from their respective states to filibuster the upcoming confirmation vote, which is expected to take place sometime in early April.
The demonstration was organized by The People’s Defense, a campaign which was launched in early March to oppose the appointment of Gorsuch to the long-vacant Supreme Court seat previously held by Antonin Scalia. The campaign has garnered support from a variety of progressive groups who view the appointment as a direct threat to their interests.
As an Appellate Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit Gorsuch joined the majority ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby Inc. This decision, which was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, held that Hobby Lobby had the right to deny their employees access to birth control as mandated by the Affordable Care Act, on the grounds that doing so violated the corporation’s right to religious freedom (!) Gorsuch has repeatedly ruled to uphold corporate personhood and a wide interpretation of religious freedom which extends the rights of the employer over the employee even further by forcing workers to submit to their bosses on questions of personal health and religious observance.
The appointment of a justice with a committed anti-abortion stance has far-reaching consequences for women in particular. Trump seems to be committed to his earlier pledge to appoint a so-called “pro-life” judge to the Supreme Court, whom he believes would remand the issue of legal abortion to the states if given the opportunity. Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington Tiffany Hankins commented that “from the beginning, Trump made a campaign promise to appoint a Supreme Court judge to overturn Roe V. Wade. That promise now has a name: Neil Gorsuch.”
Several of those in attendance held signs declaring their support for Merrick Garland, the Supreme Court nominee picked by Obama to replace Scalia. Others opposed the Gorsuch appointment as part of their resistance to the Trump agenda more generally, arguing that Gorsuch would be a harmful right-wing force on the court for decades to come.
Whatever their individual reasons for coming, the crowd on the steps of the court house building was unanimous in its opposition to Trump, to Gorsuch’s appointment and to the reactionary agenda that they both represent.
