(April 7, 2017 San Francisco)—The U.S. Senate today confirmed Trump Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. This vote came on the heels of a rule change by Senate Republicans yesterday after they failed to secure the 60 votes needed to move forward with Gorsuch’s confirmation. Gorsuch, a controversial selection rated as more conservative than the late Justice Antonin Scalia, will now replace Scalia on the bench. At 49 years old, now-Justice Gorsuch has the potential to influence our nation’s highest court for decades.   

National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. issued the following statement in response:

“To change the rules to ram through a Supreme Court nominee too extreme to garner 60 votes undermines the Senate’s historical role as a deliberative body. And with today’s appointment, Senate Republicans have jeopardized the core constitutional rights of millions of Americans.

As veterans of the marriage equality fight, we understand how profoundly Supreme Court rulings can affect our daily lives. Judge Gorsuch’s record on some of our most fundamental constitutional freedoms—such as the right to privacy, equality under the law, and access to reproductive health care—is dangerous, troubling, and miles behind where we are today. We must not allow these critical freedoms to be lost or undone. In the wake of this disappointment, we join with millions of other Americans in renewing our commitment to a vision of this country and of our Constitution that looks forward, not back, and that promises freedom and equality for all.”