Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) on Wednesday brought a coat hanger to a briefing to denounce President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, whose appointment liberals fear could endanger abortion rights.
At the briefing, the Democratic lawmaker held up the metal coat hanger while discussing Kavanaugh and the potential for the Trump nominee to vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion.
“I’m alarmed that five men will take us back to these days, I call them days of coat hanger medicine,” Frankel said to reporters, while also discussing a friend she found “nearly dead” at 15 years old after having a “back alley abortion.”
{mosads}Earlier this month, abortion rights activists reportedly sent Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) wire coat hangers in the mail in an effort to press her to vote against any Supreme Court nominee who would overturn Roe v. Wade.
The president nominated Kavanaugh to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on Monday night. The pick has divided lawmakers along partisan lines, setting up what looks to be bitter confirmation battle in the Senate.