Amy Coney Barrett is a 48 year old American lawyer, jurist and professor. She was a part of the final selection from which Brett Kavanaugh was chosen as Supreme Justice. And now Trump wants her to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. So, why shouldn’t she be Justice?
Judge Barrett is a part of a little known, mostly catholic religious group, known as People of Praise. People of Praise has approximately 1700 members worldwide and has been criticised for their treatment of women. There have been speculations that Margaret Atwood’s novel, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale” was based on People of Praise. A former member said that female members are expected to be subservient to their husbands and are discouraged from having any autonomy of their own. Even Pope Francis said that groups like Barrett’s ‘usurped individual freedom’. While she testified that her faith wouldn’t play a part in her rulings, can we really believe that?
If this wasn’t enough, Judge Barrett said, in a debate about gun control, “This ban treats the Second Amendment as a second-class right”. Additionally, she is pro-life and signed an anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage letter in 2015. If she is confirmed, she will be a part of 6/10 Republicans in court, giving them the majority and possibly the power to overturn Roe v Wade.
Would it be right to replace a feminist icon such as RBG with Amy Coney Barrett, a woman against the very same rights RBG fought for us to have?
Written by Medha Gupta
Artwork by Zara Masood
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