For Immediate Release

THOUSANDS SIGN LETTER CALLING ON BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO SUPPORT COURT EXPANSION AHEAD OF FIRST PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION MEETING

“Don’t run out the clock with this academic exercise”

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (May 19, 2021) — As the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States prepares for its first meeting today, Take Back the Court released an open letter from more than 4,500 supporters calling on the Biden Administration to support Supreme Court expansion to restore balance and protect women’s reproductive rights.

On Monday, the Supreme Court announced it would hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which challenges a Mississippi law prohibiting all abortions after 15 weeks, except in extreme cases of medical emergency or fetal abnormality. This case is not a subtle attack on women’s rights — it gives the Court the opportunity to overturn precedent and completely dismantle Roe v. Wade. Take Back the Court immediately issued an urgent call to supporters, and the response was overwhelming.

“Adding four seats is the only practical, proportional response to Republicans’ theft of the Supreme Court, and it’s the only plan that protects women’s rights from Supreme Court conservatives,” the letter reads in part. “Stalling for months for a Commission to not even produce recommendations is not a plan — it’s a surrender.”

The outpouring of support for Court expansion demonstrates a growing understanding and urgency among voters about the danger of the stolen right-wing Court majority.

“In the hands of the current hyperpartisan court, the rights of women to make informed reproductive health decisions are potentially in jeopardy,” said Aaron Belkin, Director of Take Back the Court. “We can’t let this stolen court enshrine minority rule by issuing decisions that are both wildly out of step with public opinion and in direct conflict with court precedent. We don’t have six months to waste and we don’t need a commission to tell us how to restore balance to the Court: Adding seats is the only way to protect our fundamental rights and save our democracy.”

Support for adding justices to the Supreme Court has grown exponentially since Republicans consummated their court-packing scheme. Last month, leaders in the House and Senate introduced the landmark Judiciary Act of 2021, which would add four justices. Changing the size of the Supreme Court does not require a constitutional amendment, President Biden could simply call on Congress to pass that legislation and send it to his desk. But time is running out to return independence and integrity to the Court and rebuild American democracy.

As the letter states, “The need for Supreme Court expansion is as clear as it is urgent. Please don’t run out the clock with this academic exercise. We are asking you to support court expansion today.”

A full copy of the letter signed by more than 4,500 people can be found below.

President Biden,

2021 is on pace to be the worst year for reproductive rights in decades. Did you know that we saw more abortion restrictions passed in the last week of April than in any other in the last decade? And now the 6-3 conservative Court just agreed to weigh in on a case where they can overturn precedent and completely dismantle Roe v. Wade.

None of this is a surprise: The Supreme Court was stolen by Mitch McConnell — and its theft designed by the Federalist Society — explicitly to overturn Roe and restrict women's rights. And GOP-controlled states know this: that’s why they are attacking reproductive rights at an unprecedented pace, confident that they own the courts.

This is urgent. Seventy-seven percent of Americans believe that abortion should remain legal, but 6 justices could swiftly overturn it in the next term. We do not have 180 days to wait for your Commission to complete an academic exercise when the health and well-being of real people are at stake. The only way forward is already clear: It’s time to expand the Supreme Court.

Adding four seats is the only practical, proportional response to Republicans’ theft of the Supreme Court, and it’s the only plan that protects women’s rights from Supreme Court conservatives. Stalling for months for a Commission to not even produce recommendations is not a plan — it’s a surrender.

The need for Supreme Court expansion is as clear as it is urgent. Please don’t run out the clock with this academic exercise. We are asking you to support court expansion today.

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 at https://www.takebackthecourt.today.