Hillary Clinton: Your Vote Could Impact the Supreme Court

In an opinion piece published Friday in The Boston Globe, Hillary Clinton draws a stark contrast between herself and the Republicans running for president, who she paints as having “a different view,” to put it mildly. 

And the most significant difference she hopes voters remember at the ballot box is the one that determines the future of the highest court in the land: the U.S. Supreme Court.

The GOP candidates, she writes, “see this election as an opportunity to pack the courts with jurists who will turn back the clock. Marco Rubio says he wants 'more Scalias' on the Court — justices who would rule against marriage equality and roll back a woman’s right to choose. Ted Cruz says his judges will be 'rock-ribbed conservatives.' Chris Christie says that if the court were filled with his type of judge, they would have ruled against the Affordable Care Act and marriage equality."

“On Election Day, three of the current justices will be over 80 years old, which is past the court’s average retirement age. The next president could easily appoint more than one justice.

“As president (and a lawyer and former law professor), I’ll appoint justices who will protect the constitutional principles of liberty and equality for all, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or political viewpoint; make sure the scales of justice aren’t tipped away from individuals toward corporations and special interests; and protect citizens’ right to vote, rather than billionaires’ right to buy elections.”

Clinton closed her op-ed with a memory of the date seared into the minds of readers of The Advocate: June 26, 2015, which she wrote “was as clear a reminder as any of what the court can do: stand for equality, or against it; make America a fairer place, or roll back the progress we’ve worked so hard to achieve. It depends on what the Court decides. It depends on who is deciding. Which, in the end, means it depends on all of us.” 

Despite being the front-runner, Clinton is not yet assured the Democratic nomination as the dates of the first primaries and caucuses draw near. But a historic endorsement from Planned Parenthood, reported by The New York Times, could dramatically help seal the deal for the former senator, secretary of state, and first lady. 

This is the first time the century-old nonprofit has offered any candidate its endorsement in a presidential primary.

Although she has issued a statement saying she was honored by Planned Parenthood’s break with tradition, Clinton will not officially accept the group’s support until Sunday at a campaign rally in Manchester, N.H.

The endorsement comes on the heels of a new bill, which has the support of the leading GOP presidential candidates, to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act and strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood. 

After the Senate swiftly passed the bill with a simple majority, the House approved the measure Wednesday by a vote of 240 to 181, and sent it to President Obama, where it faces a certain veto.