How To Protest Donald Trump's SCOTUS Nominee

Just as he teased on his Twitter account last week, Donald Trump announced his Supreme Court nominee Tuesday. However, there's a long way to go from here: Judge Neil Gorsuch will face a tricky confirmation process, an extreme vetting process, and plenty of public ire. Here's how you can protest SCOTUS nominee Gorsuch, because having a justice that conservative for decades could be disastrous for Americans' civil rights.

Gorsuch is an out-and-out conservative, and has already been compared to the late Antonin Scalia. He is most notorious for his strong support of Hobby Lobby and what the chain argued was its right to not provide contraception to its employees under the ACA for religious reasons. Although Gorsuch has not ruled on abortion, his vocal opposition to euthanasia — as laid out in his 2009 book on the subject — in addition to his Hobby Lobby support has led to the assumption that he is anti-choice. (President Trump also vowed to nominate an anti-choice judge to the court prior to picking Gorsuch.)

So, how can you protest a man whose deciding vote could be the death knell for Roe v. Wade? Democrats have already promised to give Trump exactly what President Obama got from Congressional Republicans last year during Judge Merrick Garland's road-to-nowhere confirmation process. Unfortunately, the situations aren't really analogous — Mitch McConnell and the Republicans had a clear end in sight when they decided to stonewall President Obama's nomination for nearly a full year, whereas Democrats don't know if this is going to be a four year or an eight year fight. If the process drags out long enough leaving the court incomplete for years, the tide may turn against the Democrats and force them to comply. Still, you can add your voice to the dissenters who will be leading the fight against Gorsuch — even if it doesn't work in the end.

If you don't live anywhere close to Washington, D.C., your best bet is phone calls and more phone calls. The Republican-majority Senate Judiciary Committee is the first step in the SCOTUS confirmation process, so they're the best place to start. Call all the Republican committee members at least once a day starting now, and simply ask them to publicly oppose Judge Gorsuch's confirmation and send a negative report to the full Senate.

If Gorsuch does get a vote before the whole body of legislators (which could be a few months from now), expand your calls to other Republican Senators, particularly the ones who scored the highest on this ideological rating. It takes a simple up-or-down majority to confirm a Supreme Court nominee, so only three Republicans have to flip. If it does come to a vote, drop everything and protest, especially if you live in a state with Republican Senators. They will listen because they need your vote, and never let them forget it.

Trump has said over and over that he's the president for all people, but even in less than two weeks, he's consistently chosen policy that the majority of Americans don't support. In picking a SCOTUS nominee who opposes birth control as a right, Trump is deliberately violating the will of the American people. Protest is the most powerful way to show Trump that he can't get away with this autocratic behavior without consequences, so get out there and make your opposition heard.