🌊 Abortion: Whose Right?

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This email continues our Trump-Harris debate series. To create this newsletter, we went through hundreds of recorded conversations with swing voters and synthesized each side’s arguments. Today, these hypothetical voters debate the Supreme Court, abortion, and the filibuster.

The Facts

Donald Trump appointed three justices to the US Supreme Court, giving the Court a 6-3 conservative majority. The justices have since overturned Roe v. Wade and affirmative action, prompting widespread concern among Democrats. Calls for “reforming” the court, typically by adding enough justices to eliminate the conservative majority, have since proliferated.

In 2019, Kamala Harris said that she is "open to this conversation about increasing the number of people on the United States Supreme Court.” Last month, she said, "I do believe that there should be some kind of reform of the Court, and we can study what that actually looks like." 

The Debate

Trump Voter (TV): Kamala Harris wants to pack the Court. That alone is enough to get me not to vote for her. 

Harris Voter (HV): Kamala isn’t saying she will pack the court. She has at a minimum endorsed ethics changes, though, and reform of the Court is needed. The justices – all unelected – are essentially dictating the country’s most important laws. That’s why no one trusts them anymore. We need to restore that trust and protect minority rights, voting rights, and other fundamental parts of our democracy. 

TV: No one trusts the Court because of a concerted effort by the Democrats and media to undermine its legitimacy. They accuse Trump of ignoring the rule of law, but then vilify the justices, sow doubt in its validity, and politicize the justice system. 

HV: Trump appointed three radical right-wing justices, one of whom was credibly accused of being a predator. They then proceeded to pursue the most right-wing agenda they possibly could have. That’s scary. 

TV: The allegations against Kavanaugh weren’t credible – they weren’t corroborated, they were just used to discredit a respected judge to undermine the Republicans. The Court is perpetually moving from left to right and back: What was Trump supposed to do when the spots opened up? Not appoint anyone?

HV: He could have picked moderates and should have left RBG’s seat vacant so the next president could fill it. When Obama was president, the Republicans obstructed his appointment of a justice on the grounds that a late-term president had no right to appoint a justice. 

TV: RBG should have retired when Obama was president. A lot of Democrats were saying that long before Trump was in office. The justices Trump appointed are moderates. They’ve just been made out as extremists by the Left. And the Republicans didn’t flip on late-term appointments: In 2016, they cited a rule blocking Court nominees in election years when the Senate is controlled by an opposite party as the White House. In 2020, the Republicans controlled both.

HV: Moderates? They eliminated affirmative action and overturned Roe v. Wade. This year, they drastically limited the power of government agencies. They could go after gay marriage next.

TV: You should be happy they limited the agencies’ power – it means that if Trump is in, he can’t just do whatever he wants. Affirmative action was clearly unconstitutional. It was discrimination, plain and simple, and a large majority of Americans opposed it. And on Roe: The Court shouldn’t be the ones to declare abortion legal or not. It should be up to the legislatures. Even pro-choice legal scholars agree with this. 

HV: The Court is tasked with protecting the Constitution, which protects our rights. Access to healthcare and abortion are rights. Saying it should be left up to the states is like saying laws on segregation should have been left up to the states. Human rights shouldn’t be left up to the states. 

TV: I almost agree with you because of how radical the Democratic states are: Do you realize that in states like Minnesota, there are no restrictions on when a woman can get an abortion? But abortion is one of the most contentious issues there is and we live in a huge country. The only way the US can work is with flexibility, and that’s what the current situation gives. Californians view the issue differently than Texans. Each can have their own laws.

Editor’s Note

Thank you for all of your feedback about this series. It makes us happy to see your feedback and how much many of you have been enjoying it. 

Are there any topics you want us to cover before the election? Reply to this email to let us know. We’re want to write about the issues that matter to you.

–Max and Max

RocaNews co-founders