FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
September 25, 2020
Contact: Nikki Metzgar, (202) 599-7642 
nmetzgar@napawf.org

(WASHINGTON)—The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) denounces President Trump’s expected nomination of U.S. Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Judge Barrett has a track record of harming the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, pregnant people, immigrants, and more. She has made clear she would invalidate the Affordable Care Act, an act that would take health care away from millions of people, including 2 million AAPIs, during a pandemic. 

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum Executive Director Sung Yeon Choimorrow issued the following statement: 

“At a time when the rights and dignity of immigrant communities and communities of color face daily assaults, we need a Supreme Court justice who will protect the rights that we have fought for. Amy Coney Barrett is not that justice. Her track record shows us who she is and how she will rule from a seat on the Supreme Court. She is opposed to health care access, including abortion, and through her support of sex-selective abortion bans, demonstrated that she supports the racial profiling of Asian American and Pacific Islander women based on nothing more than disproven stereotypes about our communities. 

It’s shameful that President Trump and Senate leadership are choosing to rush her nomination when our government should be focusing on providing aid to the millions of people struggling through a global pandemic that has claimed more than 200,000 lives in the U.S.

AAPI women and other women of color stand to be critically impacted by the next Supreme Court justice, who will have opportunities to vote on decisions governing immigrant rights, voting rights, health care access, and workers’ rights — issues that disproportionately affect the lives of communities of color. We will fight against this confirmation because this is a fight for our families and our lives.”

NAPAWF is opposed to Barrett’s nomination for the Supreme Court for the following reasons:

  • Barrett criticized Chief Justice John Roberts for his decision to uphold Congress’s authority to enact large portions of the ACA. A week after the election, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Trump’s lawsuit to overturn the ACA, which has enabled more than 2 million AAPIs to get coverage.

  • Barett signed a letter criticizing the ACA requirement that employers include contraceptive coverage as part of their employer-sponsored health insurance plans. For AAPI women, who already use less effective contraceptive methods, insurance coverage of contraceptive methods is critical to ensuring access to effective contraception. 

  • Trump has repeatedly promised to appoint only justices who will take away our right to abortion, and leadership from several anti-abortion activist groups have expressed their support for Barrett’s consideration for a seat on the Supreme Court. 

  • In 2018, Judge Barret joined a dissenting opinion in a ruling that had held unconstitutional an Indiana law banning sex-selective abortion. Sex-selective abortion bans racially profile AAPI women for discriminatory questioning based on the racist and false stereotype that we terminate pregnancies based on son preference and may ultimately deny them care. 

  • Barrett consistently rules against immigrants seeking relief from deportation. For example, Barrett cast the deciding vote permitting the deportation of a lawful resident who resided in the U.S. for 30 years. 

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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.