Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley could not even finish his first sentence before pro-abortion senators and abortion activists disrupted the opening hearing Tuesday about U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
As Grassley began, pro-abortion Sen. Kamala Harris immediately interrupted followed by a motion from pro-abortion Sen. Richard Blumenthal to adjourn the meeting.
“Good morning, I welcome everyone to this confirmation hearing on the nomination of -” Grassley began before he was interrupted.
Chaos followed as pro-abortion Democrats repeatedly interrupted Grassley and abortion activists in the crowd cheered. As the hearing continued, abortion activists grew louder, shouting over several pro-life senators before police removed and arrested more than two dozen of them.
The interruptions appear to be part of a united effort by pro-abortion Democrats and left-wing advocacy groups to continuously disrupt the hearings.
“Democrats plotted coordinated protest strategy over the holiday weekend and all agreed to disrupt and protest the hearing, sources tell me and @frankthorp,” NBC reporter Kasie Hunt tweeted Tuesday.
When asked about the meeting later Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin, a pro-abortion Democrat, confirmed that they did have a phone conference with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over the weekend, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The pro-abortion Women’s March boasted about being behind the disruptions, writing, “We’re disrupting the Kavanaugh hearings every few minutes, with hundreds of women prepared to get arrested to prevent these hearings from moving forward.”
More abortion activists arrested after pro-abortion outbursts because they don’t care about civility. #SCOTUS #ConfirmKavanaugh pic.twitter.com/p44OrhKB5l
— LifeNews.com (@LifeNewsHQ) September 4, 2018
The BBC reports police removed at least 20 protesters from the room Tuesday morning, some wearing red “Handmaid’s Tale” robes and white bonnets. Fox News reports at least 22 were arrested.
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Here’s more from Fox:
That number could climb by the end of the day as the contentious hearing continues.
Among those arrested was UltraViolet executive director Shaunna Thomas, the [pro-abortion] women’s organization told Fox News. Thomas, who co-founded the group focused on reproductive rights and combating sexism, said, “Senators, on behalf of the millions of women across the country whose rights will be stripped by a Kavanaugh court, I demand you reject this nomination,” according to an UltraViolet spokesperson.
Interjections – from those in the audience and Democratic senators – peppered the hearing from its very start, even before Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican, could make it through his opening statements. One by one, protesters stood and disrupted the hearing before being removed by police.
Sen. Joy Cornyn, a pro-life Republican, criticized the outbursts and interruptions early during the hearing.
“This is the first confirmation hearing for a Supreme Court justice I’ve seen basically according to mob rule,” Cornyn said. “We have rules in this Senate. We have norms for decorum. Everyone is going to get a chance to have the chance to have their say.”
LifeNews counted the following interruptions by pro-abortion Democrats within the first hour of the hearing:
Blumenthal, Richard 13
Booker, Cory 10
Harris, Kamala 8
Hirono, Mazie 6
Klobuchar, Amy 3
Whitehouse, Sheldon 2
Leahy, Patrick 1
Coons, Christopher 1
The radical pro-abortion group NARAL, Planned Parenthood and others have labeled Kavanaugh’s nomination a “serious threat” to “women’s right to safe, legal abortion,” while national pro-life leaders have expressed high hopes for Kavanaugh and the future of unborn babies’ rights.
If confirmed, Kavanaugh would swing the court to a 5-4 conservative majority and open up the possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade and restoring protections to unborn babies.
Kavanaugh has served on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for D.C. for more than a decade, where he developed an extensive record of protecting religious liberty and enforcing restrictions on abortion. Pro-life leaders believe he would do the same on the Supreme Court.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins described the Tuesday morning disruptions as “the unhinged conduct of the Left.” He also responded to Democrats’ claims about needing more time to review Kavanaugh’s documents.
“This hearing is a snapshot of where America is and where we will head if the Left has the reins of government,” Perkins said. “The idea that this is about reviewing millions of pages of documents is laughable. Remember, this is the party of Nancy Pelosi who said of the most expansive piece of government policy, Obamacare, that they would have to pass the 2,300 page bill and then read it.”
Perkins continued: “America is at such a critical stage that for Christians or conservatives to step back for just one moment could result in the loss of not just the fundamental freedoms reestablished in the last two years, but the loss of the Republic as we have known it.”