'Hell, no!' says Sen. Mazie Hirono as partisan Senate vote Amy Coney Barrett onto the U.S. Supreme Court

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Sen. Mazie Hirono gives a thumbs down on Amy Coney Barrett's nomination for SCOTUS.

Amy Coney Barrett is the newest Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. She was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Monday night by a narrow party-line vote in the Senate; Democrats against, Republicans for. Only one Republican, Maine's Susan Collins, crossed the aisle to vote against Barrett.

All three Asian American senators voted against Barrett and Hawaii's Sen. Mazie Hirono did it in dramatic fashion, walking up to the front desk with an emphatic "Hell no!" and to make sure there was no doubt, a dramatic thumbs down.

'LGBTQ rights. Voting rights. Women’s equality. Health Care. These rights didn’t materialize out of thin air – they came after hard-fought battles.

'Judge Barrett’s radical views and her disregard for real-world impacts show #WhatsAtStake if she is confirmed to the Supreme Court,' Hirono tweeted earlier.  

Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for Vice President, said, “The American people see this confirmation for what it is: an illegitimate move that will set our country back for generations. Access to health care is now in jeopardy. Our voting rights are now in jeopardy. Workers’ rights are now in jeopardy. LGBTQ equality is now in jeopardy. The right to a safe and legal abortion is now in jeopardy. The ability to address a changing climate is now in jeopardy. And so much more.

“I share the American people’s outrage at this rushed process to confirm a nominee who has the potential to do great harm.”

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth called the entire questionable process of selecting Coney Barrett, “Infuriating, awful and illegitimate.”

Since Barrett was announced as Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, Duckworth has been vocal about her opposition to this appointment. When Barrett was first nominated, the Duckworth responded: “instead of addressing the many life-and-death issues facing working families during COVID-19, Trump and the Senate Republicans are focused on jamming through this nomination in a transparent grab for power so they can achieve their long-sought goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act and ripping away healthcare from millions – including every COVID-19 survivor who now has a pre-existing condition.”

“Judge Barrett was not fit to be a Circuit Judge in 2017 and she is the wrong choice for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court today.”

After the Senate vote, Coney Barrett was sworn in twice. The first ceremony Justice Clarence Thomas did the first swearing in without any of the other justices present. Later Monday, she was sworn in again in a more traditional ceremony with Chief Justice Roberts and the other justices (with the exception of Justice Breyer) in attendance.

Coney Barrett, 48, will give the High Court a solid 6-3 conservative majority and will shape the law and the country for generations. In her first term, she is expected to take part in decisions affecting a woman's right to choose, the Affordable Care Act, same-sex marriage and most immediately, possibly the legitimacy of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions. 

Asian American senators grill Supreme Court nominee

Sen. Kamala Harris questioned SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

Vice President candidate Kamala Harris and Hawaii's Sen. Mazie Hirono were among the senators able to question Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee began Barrett's nomination hearings Monday and will continue for three days.

After opening statements on Monday, the two Asian American senators were able to question the nominee Tuesday. Closing statements will be heard Wednesday and a vote is scheduled for Oct. 17.

Donald Trump ordered the Senate to prioritize the hearings  so that his nominee could be sworn in before the November elections.

If named to the Supreme Court, the ultra-conseravative Barrett would give the Supreme Court an overwhelming 6-3 conservative majority with the possibility of undoing over 55 years of progress and determine a rightward shift for the U.S. for at least two generations.

The hearings were held despite protests from Democrats who reminded the Republicans that they refused to hold a hearing for President Obama's nominee Merrick Garland in the last year of Obama's presidency.

Harris, speaking virtually, began by putting the controversial hearings in the context of the ongoing elections. She outlined some of the important decisions the SCOTUS will face this term, including the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act. 

The Democratic senators spent most of their questioning time playing to the nationwide audience to make sure they know what is at stake of Barrett is confirmed to the High Court. 

Besides the certain attacks against the ACA, the Supreme Court will face cases on transgender marriage, Roe v. Wade and possibly affirmative action.

Sen. Hirono's questioning is below:

Trump's Supreme Court nominee is an insult to Senator Tammy Duckworth

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Sen. Tammy Duckworth (in wheelchair) brought her infant daughter to the floor of the U.S. Senate.

There are plenty of reasons to vote against placing Amy Coney Barrett on the U.S. Supreme Court but for Sen. Tammy Duckworth, her opposition is deeply personal.

In her 50s, the Illinois senator gave birth to the first of her two daughters. For both of children, she used in vitro fertilization, or IVF, to help her conceive.

She was the first senator to give birth while in office and was the first senator allowed to bring her newborn to the floor of the Senate.

On Oct. 2, she wrote a letter to her Senate colleagues describing  ultra-conservative Barrett as someone who "appears to believe that my daughters shouldn't even exist" and says, "I write to each of you today, and especially to my Republican colleagues who cooed and cuddled Maile when she first visited the Capitol, in hopes that you will fully consider the very real impact your vote on this unprecedented nomination could have on those Americans hoping to start families of their own."

Duckworth's letter was responding to media reports last week that Barrett and her husband, Jesse, had signed an anti-abortion ad in 2006 in the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune from an organization known then as St. Joseph County Right to Life, which became part of Right to Life Michiana, which supports criminal penalties for doctors who perform abortion, and for doctors who discard embryos as part of IVF treatments, said Executive Director Jackie Appleman to NPR.

Among the positions the group has taken is criminal penalties for doctors who perform abortion, and for doctors who discard embryos as part of IVF treatments.

"Whether embryos are implanted in the woman and then selectively reduced or it's done in a petri dish and then discarded, you're still ending a new human life at that point and we do oppose that," Appleman told The Guardian.

"Judge Barrett's willingness to associate her name to such an organization is is, disqualifying, and frankly, insulting to every parent, hopeful parent or would-be parent who has struggled to start a family," Duckworth wrote in her letter. 

"I hope you will join me in speaking out for every American family who has struggled with infertility by opposing this confirmation," Duckworth concluded.

AAPI women oppose Trump's radical nominee, Amy Barrett, for the Supreme Court

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Amy Barrett was questioned upon her nomination to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

UPDATED Sept. 27 to include statement from Kamala Harris.

Wanting to have a replacement for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg in place before the November presidential elections, Donald Trump intends to nominate U.S. Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, according to several media outlets.

Opposition to the deeply conservative Barrett came quickly from the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF). In a statement released Friday, NAPAWF has a track record of harming the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, pregnant people, immigrants, and more.

Trump committed to picking a woman to replace Ginsberg and has narrowed his choices between Barrett and Judge Barbara Lagoa from Florida. He appears to favor Barrett, the more extreme rightwing of the two with a long track record supporting her reputation.

Barrett is a longtime opponent of the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare," and if confirmed could invalidate the law that would affect two million AAPI during a pandemic. A legal challenge to ACA is expected to be heard in November after the 2020 presidential election.

“At a time when the rights and dignity of immigrant communities and communities of color face daily assaults, we need a Supreme Court justice who will protect the rights that we have fought for,"  said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive direcctor of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. " Amy Coney Barrett is not that justice."

Awaiting to question Barrett if Trump nominates her, are Senators Mazie Hirono and Kamala Harris, the latter is  also the Vice President nominee for the Democrats. Both senators are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and are noted for their sharp questioning of Trump appointees to the judicial system.

“Just yesterday, I paid my respects to the legendary Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who devoted her life to fighting for Equal Justice Under Law and a more fair and just world," Harris wrote Saturday. "Her passing is devastating, and it would be a travesty to replace her with a justice who is being selected to undo her legacy and erase everything she did for our country."

Harris, a former prosecutor, in particular, gained national notoriety for her aggressive questioning which unsettled conservative nominees, including Attorney General William Barr, former AG Jeff Sessions and Brett Kavanaugh, who was seeking the committee's recommendation for the Supreme Court.

Barrett's "track record shows us who she is and how she will rule from a seat on the Supreme Court. She is opposed to health care access, including abortion, and through her support of sex-selective abortion bans, demonstrated that she supports the racial profiling of Asian American and Pacific Islander women based on nothing more than disproven stereotypes about our communities.," continued Choimorrow's statement.

"AAPI women and other women of color stand to be critically impacted by the next Supreme Court justice, who will have opportunities to vote on decisions governing immigrant rights, voting rights, health care access, and workers’ rights -- issues that disproportionately affect the lives of communities of color. We will fight against this confirmation because this is a fight for our families and our lives,” She said.

NAPAWF said the women's advocate organization is opposed to Barrett’s nomination for the Supreme Court for the following reasons:

• Barrett criticized Chief Justice John Roberts for his decision to uphold Congress’s authority to enact large portions of the ACA. A week after the election, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Trump’s lawsuit to overturn the ACA, which has enabled more than 2 million AAPIs to get coverage.

• Barett signed a letter criticizing the ACA requirement that employers include contraceptive coverage as part of their employer-sponsored health insurance plans. For AAPI women, who already use less effective contraceptive methods, insurance coverage of contraceptive methods is critical to ensuring access to effective contraception.

• Trump has repeatedly promised to appoint only justices who will take away our right to abortion, and leadership from several anti-abortion activist groups have expressed their support for Barrett’s consideration for a seat on the Supreme Court.

• In 2018, Judge Barret joined a dissenting opinion in a ruling that had held unconstitutional an Indiana law banning sex-selective abortion. Sex-selective abortion bans racially profile AAPI women for discriminatory questioning based on the racist and false stereotype that we terminate pregnancies based on son preference and may ultimately deny them care.

• Barrett consistently rules against immigrants seeking relief from deportation. For example, Barrett cast the deciding vote permitting the deportation of a lawful resident who resided in the U.S. for 30 years.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this article is news laced with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.