Adam Schiff Joins Effort To Expand Supreme Court & Overcome GOP Threats

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Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is among the Democrats in the House and Senate in support of a recently reintroduced plan to expand the number of members of the U.S. Supreme Court, bringing the total from nine to 13.

Although the situation surrounding the lack of verifiable integrity in many operations of that court isn’t confined to a specific policy, there are also, of course, serious concerns about the individual attacks already waged and potentially looming. Outrage was widely raised about a dispute brought before the court that, if Republicans had their way, could substantially block the basic ability of state court systems to exercise oversight of state legislators’ handling of federal elections in their jurisdictions, and already, the artificially engineered and Republican Party-aligned majority on the Supreme Court undid abortion rights, at least at the federal level, by rolling back Roe.

Blocking the opportunity for abortion poses potentially substantial health risks to pregnant individuals experiencing complications. Even in most cases, where exceptions under new state bans for such complications are available, what about the time that must be taken to ensure a certain case is serious enough to allow intervention? In Texas, several individuals who experienced complications in pregnancy have already brought a lawsuit, seeking judicial clarification on the exceptions that are available. How willing are Republican leaders to risk the death of pregnant individuals experiencing a complication to make a point about upholding strict guidelines?

“For far too long, Republicans have stacked the Supreme Court with ultra conservative justices in order to repeal reproductive freedom, constrain voting rights and weaken clean air rules,” Schiff said. “Our nation’s highest court should not be used as a political tool for partisan purposes. That’s why we need to expand the Supreme Court to begin to restore trust, balance, and integrity in our nation’s highest court.”

Democratic state officials have pursued their own protections after Roe was undone. One priority has been establishing that state authorities in jurisdictions led by Democrats will not cooperate with investigations and cases originating somewhere else that target any instance of providing healthcare services in the Democratic officials’ jurisdictions, where the law allows it.