Stephen,

I have the same set of conflicting reactions to today’s vote in the Senate: I’m shocked — and not at all surprised.

Every single Republican in the Senate JUST voted to block even a debate on the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify Roe v. Wade into law.

[OCS: One would think that Adam Schiff, a graduate of Harvard Law School, would have read the recently leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, where Justice Alito argued that both the Roe and Casey decisions were unconstitutional and in error. Alito’s linear logic and refutation of past and current arguments made the case that abortion and women’s healthcare issues were clearly not within the enumerated powers granted to the federal government, and such decisions were limited to the States or “the people” per the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment.]

They’re putting the lives and health of millions of women at risk.

[OCS: “They” are not doing anything. Due to the wide availability of contraceptives, including so-called “morning after” medication, the individual woman is free to protect her own mental and physical health.  With relatively few exceptions, the psychological and physical health of the mother is not placed at undue risk. The actual issue is one of competing interests. Namely, when does a fetus become a constitutionally protectable individual with rights protected under the law, and how does one assess and apportion the individual rights of a mother and her child. The question of whether abortion is an acceptable form of last-minute contraception is a separate issue.]

They want to criminalize a woman’s health care decision that they don’t agree with.

[OCS: The Senate Republicans realize the matter is a State’s Rights issue and refuse to pointlessly engage in political theatre -- clearly a defensible position.]

They want the government to decide what you should do with an unexpected pregnancy.

[OCS:  Again, the federal government cannot violate the constitution to confer non-enumerated rights and craft legislation.]

They are making it easy for a partisan court to turn back the clock on not just reproductive freedom, but lots of other rights as well.

[OCS: When decisions are decided in favor of their agenda, it is said to be a non-partisan court. Truth be told, the Court would be better off with more textualists who stick to their oath and duty rather than judicial activists who legislate from the bench.]

And they’re proud of it.

So yeah, I’m disgusted with every single Republican Senator. Including the so-called moderates, who claim to support reproductive freedom. They are always there... when you don’t need them. And yes, I’m aghast that one Democrat joined them to block a debate and the vote to codify Roe. I imagine you are, too.

[OCS: Again, with limited exceptions, a woman is free to control her reproductive system, from saying “no” to sex to a wide range of contraceptive devices and medications.]

But we’re not going to give up the fight for women’s healthcare and access to abortion. We are not going to roll back people’s rights. Not now. Not ever.

[OCS: I believe that the progressive communist democrats care nothing about women’s health or the nuclear family unless they can be manipulated to gain or maintain political power.]

It’s clear that we need to expand our Majorities in both the House and the Senate and elect more Democrats devoted to reproductive freedom and who have what it takes to get the job done.

[OCS: This statement proves my point – it’s a matter of political power, not women’s health.]

More soon. And thanks for your support.

— Adam

It’s time to expand the Supreme Court, Stephen. And I don’t say this lightly.

It’s the most unrepresentative institution in the United States government. A socially conservative court of partisan justices determined to enact a partisan agenda — as evidenced by the leaked draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade.

[OCS: It appears that Schiff has overlooked the fact that the United States Supreme Court is not directly elected, and there are no Constitutional requirements that it look like America based on race, religion, sex, gender, etc., or hold any particular views. Each Justice swears or affirms two oaths.

The constitutional oath: “I, _________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

The judicial oath: “I, _________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as _________ under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.”]

It’s the result of Mitch McConnell withholding a justice when Barack Obama was president, and then forcing through a Trump-nominated justice as voters were electing Joe Biden. And then Justices lying under oath about Roe v. Wade. The court has been stacked by Republicans. Congress must unstack it.

[OCS: McConnell was operating within his constitutional authority – this is politics at play. The Court was not “stacked” any more than when the Court has a liberal majority.]

Let’s be honest. The Supreme Court has lost its credibility as a neutral arbiter of the law. Sadly, most Americans now view the court as they must in the wake of this draft opinion: not a conservative legal court but merely a partisan one.

[OCS: The Court, to the extent it contains judicial activists rather than textualists, will never be considered a neutral arbiter by one side or the other.]

As a result of these actions by McConnell and Trump, the court is now in a position to force on America a policy regarding abortion that America does not agree with, that puts women’s health at risk and is disastrous for the country. But that’s not all — any court that will to throw out decades of settled law to eliminate a woman’s right to choose is willing to do the same to eliminate other rights inherent in the constitution, like same sex marriage and more.

[OCS: The Court cannot force a policy on anything outside its scope – like abortion. The suggestion that the Court will eliminate other rights is pure demagoguery, which is Schiff’s specialty.]

The House has done its job to protect reproductive freedom. We passed the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify Roe v. Wade as the law of the land. Now the Senate must abolish the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade into law.

[OCS: The filibuster gives voice to the minority and is the last-ditch protection against tyranny – especially when one party holds both Congress and the Presidency. Roe is unconstitutional as it violates the Fourteenth Amendment, period.]

But we need to go further than that. As the danger is broad and implicates so many other rights, so must the remedy be broad. Add your name to my petition calling on Congress to expand the Supreme Court — after McConnell and Trump stacked the court, the only way to restore its legitimacy is to unstack it.

Our nation is at a crossroads, and we need to do everything we can to ensure the rights of the American people are protected.

[OCS: Agreed! Adam Schiff must be removed from office and sanctioned for his conduct, perjury, evidence tampering, and obstruction of justice.]

Thanks for standing with me today,

— Adam