Power

Justice Samuel Alito Went Off the Rails Over Your Birth Control

The Supreme Court justice had so many bad things to say in a recent speech we could only react in GIFs.

[PHOTO: Samuel Alito shaking John Barrasso's hand.
Justice Samuel Alito's partisan speech to the Federalist Society went viral. Alex Wong/Getty Images

On Thursday night, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spoke at a Federalist Society event. It was a supreme train wreck.

The Federalist Society is the well-funded, powerful advocacy organization behind the conservative takeover of the federal courts. They’ve essentially hand-picked Trump judges.

Rewire News Group‘s Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy have been on the case for years. In January, Pieklo and Gandy profiled one of the organization’s leaders, Leonard Leo, on their podcast Boom! Lawyered.

Seriously though, the Federalist Society is the reason the federal courts are now full of judges who have vowed to re-criminalize abortion, won’t say Brown v. Board of Education was rightly decided, and have THOUGHTS about marriage equality.

Alito had a lot to say during his keynote speech. For starters, he’s not a fan of COVID-19 mask mandates because of “liberty.” What’s even scarier is he’s not the only justice who feels that way.

This is a big deal for Alito to say, considering that a challenge to any mask mandate the Biden administration may issue could end up before the justices. Alito has already said he’s against them. So, that’s not great!

He is also very worried about the government being taken over by scientists and experts. But we think a government run by scientists and experts ACTUALLY SOUNDS PRETTY GREAT.

Alito also thinks religious liberty is becoming a “disfavored right,” as if the Court this term isn’t set to MASSIVELY expand religious liberty rights at the expense of everyone else.

Unsurprisingly, Alito also had a few things to say about abortion, none of them good. That includes a whopper of a lie that Plan B and the birth control pill cause abortions. Ummm, Justice Alito? That’s not how it works.

Alito isn’t confused about how Plan B works though. He’s actively trying to roll back your right to birth control. Gandy wrote about this in 2013!

So let’s be very clear here. Alito just signaled that the conservatives on the Supreme Court are not just coming for abortion rights. They are coming for your birth control as well.

On top of that, he also emphasized he’s not a fan of marriage equality. That’s both not surprising and more bad news about the courts. These rights we fought so hard for are not guaranteed.

It’s going to be a busy, bumpy year for your rights in the courts, as Alito signaled. Good thing you’ve got #TeamLegal and a fresh season of Boom! Lawyered to walk you through it.

This article was adapted from a Twitter thread.