A left-wing protest group has announced that it is organizing a demonstration at the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh over his vote not to stay Texas’s “heartbeat bill” last week.
The group, called Shut Down DC, is demanding that Kavanaugh resign for siding with the majority in the court’s 5-4 decision not to block the Texas bill, which went into effect on September 1.
The activists plan on meeting Monday evening at Chevy Chase Local Park before going to the justice’s house for an “abortion right’s rally and speakout at Kavanaugh’s house.”
“Brett Kavanaugh: You’re going to hear from us directly. Last week we came to the Supreme Court. But you weren’t there; the justices continue to work remotely. So we’re coming to your house” to “tell you to keep your oppressive ideology out of our bodies” and “demand you RESIGN immediately,” a Facebook post announcing the event reads
The post also declared that Kavanaugh would no longer be “protected from any backlash” and that they had feared what his presence on the court would mean for abortion across America.
“And now, in the dead of night, Kavanaugh and four of his colleagues have effectively overturned the right to an abortion,” the activists wrote, “(Although we must acknowledge that the right wing had already succeeded in making abortion largely inaccessible for many people without means and people of color living in certain states.)”
Organizers also ask that participants of the protest be as “inclusive as possible in your language” noting that “Women and girls are not the only people who can get pregnant and need abortions.”
Furthermore, they note that they do not want protestors to make comparisons between pro-life politicians and the Taliban.
Critics of the protest say that the protest at Kavanaugh’s house is part of a trend of bullying political figures by showing up at their homes. Shut Down DC previously protested at the home of former Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
“By personally threatening Justice Kavanaugh and his family, the Left is resorting to its favorite tactic: intimidating the Court,” Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino told Fox News.
The controversy surrounding Kavanaugh is not new.
When he was appointed by Trump back in 2018 to fill the open seat once Justice Anthony Kennedy had retired, his hearings were extremely contentious. Several individuals accused him of sexual misconduct in testimony. He vigorously denied the allegations, and in the end, the Senate confirmed him in a 50-48 vote.
This protest could be a precursor to the kind of tension that could become more apparent as the court takes up more abortion cases. During the Senate’s Kavanaugh hearings, Planned Parenthood Action Fund flew in “storytellers” from across the country to protest the danger they thought Roe v. Wade would be in if Kavanaugh was appointed.
Last week, although the court did not overturn Roe v. Wade or even rule on the constitutionality of the Texas law, many pro-abortion activists are worried that the decision not to stay the “heartbeat bill” might foreshadow what is to come.
Next year, the court is slated to decide a case on a Mississippi abortion law, which some say could be used to overturn Roe.