by Charlotte.Clymer@hrc.org •
WASHINGTON-- Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, reiterated its call to the U.S. Senate to oppose the nomination of Wendy Vitter to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana given her record of undermining health care, opposing the fundamental rights of women and refusal to affirm the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, the historic case that struck down school segregation. Beyond her extremism on these fundamental civil rights issues, the American Bar Association has additionally rated her “not qualified” to serve on the D.C. Circuit.
“Wendy Vitter’s views are far outside the mainstream and pose a direct threat to the health and rights of women, LGBTQ people and communities of color,” saidDavid Stacy, HRC Government Affairs Director.“She has a long record of opposing reproductive health care access and has failed to be transparent about her past public involvement with anti-choice, anti-woman protest organizations. With serious questions about her commitment to core civil rights law at the heart of her confirmation, her refusal to affirm the landmark Supreme Court ruling that struck down school segregation is a major red flag. The Senate must reject this unqualified nominee.”
Vitter has long opposed the rights and health care of women and LGBTQ people, publicly voicing her opposition at anti-abortion rallies and panels, and representing organizations who work relentlessly to undermine reproductive rights and health care. She has spent her career promoting debunked science and spreading misinformation in order to attack Planned Parenthood and other organizations for providing basic medical services for marginalized communities.
Her record is so troubling that she attempted to cover it up during her nomination process, withholding 180 anti-choice, anti-woman speeches, articles, and interviews that should have been handed over to the Senate. She also failed to report her past anti-choice advocacy on a questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both of these would have blocked a judicial nomination in the past.
The Human Rights Campaign joins coalition partners in demanding the U.S. Senate block this nomination and all others offered by the Trump-Pence White House that seek to undermine the rights and livelihoods of LGBTQ people and other marginalized communities.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.
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