Brett Kavanaugh Hearing Silently Protested By Women In 'Handmaid’s Tale' Costumes

It's currently unknown whether the Supreme Court nominee would vote to overturn the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade.
LOADINGERROR LOADING

President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for the first of several days of his confirmation hearing, leading a group of women to silently protest in “The Handmaid’s Tale” costumes.

Protesters dressed in "The Handmaid's Tale" costumes stand outside the hearing room where Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
Protesters dressed in "The Handmaid's Tale" costumes stand outside the hearing room where Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Protesters wait for the hearing to start.
Protesters wait for the hearing to start.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

The hearing, which is expected to last four days, was expected to kick off Tuesday with an aggressive fight from Democrats on Kavanaugh’s position on Roe v. Wade, the case from 1973 that first established abortion as a fundamental right under the Constitution.

Since Trump’s nomination of Kavanaugh, there has been heated discussion as to what Kavanaugh would do with the landmark case, particularly since he has been quiet about his stance on it and his position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a bench dealing mostly with federal matters, hasn’t afforded voters with an opportunity to see how he handles adjacent cases.

Despite this, Kavanaugh has apparently told one lawmaker, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, that he believes Roe v. Wade is “settled law.”

“He said that he agreed with what [Chief Justice John] Roberts said at his nomination hearing, at which he said that it was settled law,” she told reporters last week.

As far as many Roe v. Wade supporters are concerned, the law is still very much in danger, hence the appearance of the famous red robes and white hats from Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

The outfits have cropped up many times during Trump’s presidency in relation to abortion and women’s rights. Women donning the robes appeared at the Texas Senate last year as several abortion-related bills were being considered.

Just last month, a group of protesters donned the outfits when greeting Vice President Mike Pence and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a summit in New York City.

Before You Go

Exclusive Look Inside The Supreme Court

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot