Activists hold up pro-choice signs during a NARAL Pro-choice Organization press conference held outside Dean Heller’s office building in response to President Trump’s SCOTUS nominee announcement, Tuesday, July 10, 2018.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018 | 1:57 p.m.
The appointment of President Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court could slowly chip away at women’s reproductive rights in Nevada and across the country, a group of protesters and Democratic politicians said today in Las Vegas.
Trump on Monday nominated Brett Kavanaugh, who serves on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
About 25 people, led by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Sisolak, attorney general candidate Aaron Ford and secretary of state candidate Nelson Araujo, took part in the 10-minute protest in front of Republican U.S. Sen. Dean Heller’s local office.
Most of the protesters wore purple shirts that read “Battle Born, Democrat Strong” and held signs that said “Protect Roe,” a reference to the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide.
“Women’s rights are everybody’s rights,” Sisolak said.
After the rally, the protesters left letters at Heller’s office asking him to reject the appointment of the conservative-leaning federal judge.
Sisolak said Kavanaugh’s appointment likely wouldn’t immediately lead to an overturning of Roe v. Wade, but “restrictions and caveats” would “chip around the edges” of a women’s right to choose before eventually hitting its core.
Nevada GOP spokeswoman Keelie Broom said Tuesday's protest unfairly speculated on how Kavanaugh would vote and ignored his qualifications for the position.
"Rather than attacking Judge Kavanaugh based on how they think he might vote, Democrats should be demanding justices who will apply the law as written," Broom said, "regardless of the policy outcome.”
