Photos from the press conference can be found here and a livestream is available here.
BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA — On Saturday, May 11, Action Together NEPA partnered with Red Wine and Blue to host a press conference announcing mobilization efforts in the Lehigh Valley demanding that Congress use its authority to fix the U.S. Supreme Court and stop the MAGA justices’ relentless power grab. Activists, students, workers, and concerned neighbors joined the organization to raise awareness about how the broken Supreme Court has eliminated our rights to abortion, student loan debt forgiveness, and voting rights, while providing protections and privileges to billionaire donors and large corporations. The event took place just days before United for Democracy shared their campaign to demand Congress help fix the Supreme Court.
According to a recent poll, 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court’s actions. The court’s approval rating has not risen above 47 percent since overturning Roe v. Wade. With a whopping 19 electoral votes and high-stake Senate and House races taking place this year, all eyes are on Pennsylvania in 2024. As many Pennsylvanians understand: as goes Pennsylvania, so goes the nation. As the political climate heats up in America’s most consequential swing state, anxieties surrounding the Supreme Court are quickly becoming a kitchen-table issue for voters during this election cycle.
Local voices at the press conference shared their stories about the Supreme Court’s impact on their families and communities – calling on Congress to use its authority to fix the Court. Speakers also shared what Pennsylvanians can specifically do in this election year to take power back and ensure that elected leaders serve their constituents by fixing the broken Court.
“In recent years, Action Together has grown our footprint in the 7th District. In 2022, we began by canvassing in Carbon County and talking to voters about the issues that are important to them and their families. We’re taking it up several notches here in 2024, and bringing this campaign to fix the broken Supreme Court to CD7,” said Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich, Executive Director of Action Together NEPA and former PhD student at Lehigh University. “As Pennsylvanians, we understand as goes Pennsylvania, so goes the nation. We understand our unique position in the national political environment, and we understand the assignment. This is why we are calling on our political candidates and Congressional representatives to use their power to put an end to the abuse of power occurring within the United States Supreme Court. Pennsylvanians deserve better and we know better is possible. It is time to stop the relentless power grab.”
“From the neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley to the bench of the Supreme Court, the fight for our freedoms, for our communities, for our democracy is all connected. Which means, in the neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, we have the power to act. Here today, we are calling on our members of Congress, who have the authority to fix the Supreme Court, to commit to doing so — to stand with their constituents, fight for our freedoms, and fix this Court,” said Amanda Pauley, Deputy Pennsylvania Program Director for Red Wine & Blue. “And to those who elected leaders chose to stand with the people, not the relentless MAGA power grab, we commit to fighting right alongside you. Because at Red Wine and Blue, we are already getting to work. Red Wine & Blue provides resources and teaches you how to have these hard conversations. Working together, we can drive thousands of voters to the polls—one conversation at a time.”
“Two years ago, I stood in this plaza thinking about how the Dobbs decision hurt other people’s lives. Today, I realize that’s a false question. In the Dobbs opinion, Justice Alito overturned 50 years of court precedent and declared that the right to medical privacy does not exist,” said Kristin Volchansky, Advocacy Director of Action Together NEPA and resident of Hellertown, PA. “As a patient and passionate healthcare advocate, I believe that statement should disturb all of us. If there is no right to privacy when it comes to important family medical decisions, then the Court is implying that the right to healthcare is not guaranteed. The actions of this Supreme Court aren’t just hurting some of us, they’re hurting all of us. We cannot accept this as our status quo.”
“Unlike Lehigh County, Bethlehem City, Easton, and Allentown, my home [in Carbon County] has zero legal protections on the books for LGBT+ people. And PA has still yet to pass the Fairness Act, meaning I can be openly discriminated against in public accommodations, housing, and employment,” said Levi Larouche, Community Organizer with Action Together NEPA. “The Supreme Court has declined to weigh in on several cases about the constitutionality of gender-affirming care bans, but we know it’s coming. The recent decision in Idaho [to uphold a ban on gender-affirming care] is an indicator of what’s to come. Now is the time to act. Congress is responsible for keeping the Court in check. Our nation deserves better and we know better is possible. It is time to fix the Court.”
“We’re here because the Supreme Court may hand down decisions but we’re the ones who decide. We decide to take action. We decide to stand up for our families and for our communities. We decided to come together and be allies to our friends and neighbors who are so often marginalized in Black and Brown communities, queer communities, stand up for the struggle and stand up for the race that they should have to fight for after years, decades and centuries of struggle. We decide that no pregnant person or their health care provider should be criminalized for accessing or providing the care that is needed. We’re here because we know that every single marriage is valid and that every trans kid should get to grow up. We decide that we can do better for all hardworking Pennsylvanians. And we’re bringing that campaign right here to the Lehigh Valley in the seventh congressional district,” said Jessica Brittain, Organizing Director of Action Together NEPA.
“The decisions the Supreme Court made are the history of this country. It’s not about their Supreme Court or our Supreme Court. This is the Supreme Court of the nation and the core of the nation is about equal justice for everybody. I think we know that every single human being is unique and how can we take advantage of the uniqueness of these people? That cannot happen if we have decisions that exclude from the table those folks,” said Fermin Diaz, immigrant and small business owner.