On Oct 27, Judge Amy Coney Barrett was sworn into the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John G. Roberts. 

However, people are concerned about Judge Barrett threatening many Americans’ rights.

Of course, no one knows for sure how she will rule on certain matters, but her past actions and comments could spark ideas of how she might rule on some cases. 

To understand how she could be a threat to Americans’ rights we must look at her past actions.

Barrett’s Past Actions on the LGBTQ+ Community 

Coney Barrett has made countless remarks toward the LGBTQ+ community. Here are just a few of the remarks made at the 2016 Hesburgh Lecture:

Coney Barrett misgendered transgender people and referred to trans women as “physiological males,” and then put doubt on transgender rights when she said “People will feel passionately on either side about whether physiological males who identify as females should be permitted in bathrooms, especially where there are young girls present.” 

This gives the idea that transgender women should be frowned upon when going into their gender specified bathrooms due to the idea that there are young girls are present.

She’s also claimed that Title IX protections do not extend to trans individuals, calling it a “strain of the text” to reach that idea:

“When Title IX was enacted, it’s pretty clear that no one, including the Congress that enacted that statute, would have dreamed of that result, at that time. Maybe things have changed so that we should change Title IX, maybe those arguing in favor of this kind of transgender bathroom access are right. That’s a public policy debate to have. But it does seem to strain the text of the statute to say that Title IX demands it.” 

If you want to watch the whole Hesburgh lecture in 2016 click here.

Barrett appears to be no friend of the LGBTQ+ community, shown by her actions on Oct 13, 2020 in a confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill. During that hearing, she referred to the community as “sexual preference,” which to some people might not be alarming, but it can be hurtful and offensive to those in the community. However, she did later apologize for offending others.

She now has her first case on if same-sex couples can be turned away from adopting or fostering children based on the agency’s religious affiliation. This could possibly cause LGBTQ+ parents to have trouble adopting or fostering children. 

For an article that goes more in-depth of LGBTQ+ parents and their possible adopting troubles click here.

Abortion rights

Many people have mixed views on abortion and what women should and shouldn’t do with their bodies. However, many abortion opponents were pleased to hear about Coney Barrett being a new addition to the Supreme Court.

Most likely their reasons behind this were because in 2018 she joined a dissent attempting to make two laws in the state of Indiana that could’ve restricted abortion.

She’s made it clear she doesn’t agree with abortion rights and would likely consider to vote for restrictions or ban abortion completely.

If you would like to understand and look more into Barrett’s views and how she could threaten abortion, this article is very helpful.

Does she threaten the rights of Americans?

In my opinion, I believe it’s okay to have different views and opinions on all matters, as it’s your right as a human. However, I think people should still be able to have rights and options for certain matters. If you’re a part of any community, you should be able to feel safe and validated instead of feeling like your rights as humans could be taken away from you at any point due to someone else’s opinion on that matter. 

Judge Barrett’s past actions have shown how she has tried or threatened to take rights away from Americans based on her personal beliefs.