FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Growing Calls for Court Expansion to Counter the Court's Attack on Reproductive Rights

Representatives Chu and Titus Announce Support for Judiciary Act, Democratic Lawmakers and Activists Speak at Rally for Court Expansion

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 29, 2021) On Monday, the Supreme Court is slated to hear oral arguments in United States v. Texas, the Justice Department lawsuit challenging Texas’ egregious S.B. 8 abortion ban that went into effect September 1. The Supreme Court has already squandered two opportunities to halt the law in Texas, putting real lives at risk and traumatizing countless pregnant Texans in the process.

In light of the Court’s persistent failure to uphold reproductive rights, Democratic lawmakers and activists are intensifying calls for Court expansion. This week alone:

Representative Judy Chu, who is leading the charge to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act and protect abortion access, announced her support of The Judiciacy Act of 2021.
Representative Dina Titus announced she is consporsing The Judiciary Act of 2021, joining 40 members of the House and Senate on the bill.
Take Back the Court Action Fund — in partnership with People’s Parity Project — held Rally 4 Our Future, where key lawmakers and reproductive justice advocates elevated the dire need to expand the Court.

“Justice Amy Coney Barrett was jammed onto the bench just days before an election to fulfill Republicans’ decades-long mission to overturn our abortion rights,” said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, Executive Director of Take Back the Court Action Fund. “The ONLY way to stop this attack is to expand the Court, and we’re so inspired by the more than 40 members of Congress who recognize that. Now is the time for everyone else who cares about women and pregnant people in Texas — and across the country —- to get on board.”

Hear from the speakers at the rally — or read more below — as we head into Monday’s hearing:

“Now, I once worked at Planned Parenthood and I know what it means to see women who are fighting to control their lives and make decisions for themselves. And I know that right now, today, in Texas, there are women that are just learning that they are pregnant and learning that there is nothing that they can do about making their choices in Texas because of the Supreme Court. That is wrong. The Supreme Court in Texas is blatantly allowing an unconstitutional law to stay in effect, and that is exactly why we need to regain and restore balance to the United States Supreme Court.” — Senator Tina Smith (D-MN)

“Decades of progress are being overturned by what is now an activist court. This Court, because of recent history, has become Mitch McConnell’s plaything. It has lost integrity, and it essentially is no longer an institution we can depend on. … I don’t trust that this Court will uphold our democracy. I don’t trust that this Court will stand for the rights of women, and families, and children, and voters, in any way, shape, or form. Because the majority that was brought forward by Mitch McConnell — by one man — who represents a number of special interests, this court has lost its way. And the only way for us to restore the integrity of the Supreme Court of the United States of America is to expand the Court.” — Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-TX)

“And the same court that is unraveling our democracy decision by decision is doing whatever it takes to strip the American people of their reproductive freedom. By twice — twice — refusing to halt Texas’ draconian abortion ban from taking effect, the Roberts’ court effectively overturned Roe v. Wade, reversing…..decades of legal precedent and human progress. This is just the beginning.” — Representative Mondaire Jones (D-NY)

“[Our reaction to the Supreme Court allowing S.B. 8 to take effect] was the same reaction we often hear from people — ‘Well they can’t really do that, right? I mean, they’re not going to do that because it’s illegal, right?’ It’s always this shock like, that’s impossible, it’s impossible for that to happen. We knew it was possible and S.B. 8 is the example of how the impossible becomes probable and then happens immediately.” — Rev. Erika Forbes, Outreach & Faith Manager at Just Texas and S.B. 8 individual plaintiff

“I used to be one of those people that believed in the courts. … But the way that the Court has devolved into this hyper-partisan morass … Roe v. Wade is effectively nullified in Texas. … We seem to have a judiciary system that isn’t working for the people.” — Imani Gandy, Senior Editor of Law for Rewire News Group

Take Back the Court raises awareness about the urgent need to expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court to address the theft of the court by Senator Mitch McConnell during the Obama Administration. Without adding seats, Congress will not be able to restore the right to vote, ensure reproductive freedom, protect workers, halt our climate emergency, or pass new legislation. Court expansion, which can be accomplished without a constitutional amendment, is the only reform that enables the un-rigging of the system and the restoration of democracy. Learn more: https://www.takebackthecourt.today/