Abortion activists target US Supreme Court justices
Pro-abortion activists have published what they say are home addresses of six US Supreme Court justices on a website and urged like-minded people to stage protests there. Launched on Wednesday, the website “Ruth Sent Us” invites would-be activists to contact the organizers to join in picketing the justices’ homes and even offers “stipends” for those who want to get paid to create art skewering the so-called “six extremist judges.”
“Our 6-3 extremist Supreme Court routinely issues rulings that hurt women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights,” the site declares. “We must rise up to force accountability using a diversity of tactics.”
Those interested in joining or leading a “peaceful protest” outside the homes of the “six extremist justices” are invited to “let us know.”
RSU takes its name from the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died of cancer in 2020 and who - according to the website, at least - believed that “women deserve trust, black lives matter, love is love,” and “no human is illegal.”
The individuals behind Ruthsent.us have apparently opted to remain anonymous, hiding behind a Twitter account that dates from 2017. The website itself was set up almost two weeks ago.
Its current content appeared in reaction to a draft Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Sam Alito that would overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the cornerstone federal legal decisions declaring and affirming abortion as part of a constitutional right to privacy. The opinion was leaked earlier this week, and while the responsible party has not been found, Chief Justice John Roberts verified its authenticity and promised to find out how the breach - which he condemned a “betrayal of the confidences of the court” - occurred.
While the Supreme Court has yet to officially rule on the case Justice Alito’s draft was referring to, abortion rights activists fear the conservative-leaning court actually plans to follow through with throwing out Roe, long a dream of conservative judges and politicians.
Democrats have alternately lionized Ginsburg for her activism and criticized her for refusing to resign during Barak Obama's presidency, which would have ensured a like-minded replacement on the bench. She died in September 2020, at age 87. President Donald Trump was able to nominate Justice Amy Coney Barrett as her replacement, and get her confirmed shortly before the 2020 presidential election.
Ginsburg was a strong supporter of abortion rights, and cautioned that they should be adopted through comprehensive legislation, rather than resting on a single court decision from 1973 that the opponents could target for repeal. During a talk on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Ginsburg predicted that the effect of its repeal would be limited to poor women in “anti-choice” states, reasoning that liberal states would never allow abortion to be banned and wealthy women could always travel to those states - or out of the country if need be - if they wanted the procedure done.
Just as Ginsburg predicted, with abortion now hanging in the balance, ‘red states’ such as Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona have led the way toward banning it on their territory, while “blue” California, New York, Connecticut, and the ultra-liberal northern US neighbor Canada have set themselves up as abortion “sanctuary states.”
