Amy Barrett's Evolution in the Supreme Court: From Conservative to Key Swing Vote
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Amy Barrett's Impact on the Supreme Court
Justice Amy Coney Barrett is angling to be the Supreme Court's swing vote. Over three and a half years on the bench, the conservative justice has slowly inched closer to the middle, battling Chief Justice John Roberts to be the court's ideological center.
Voting Trends
During her first and second years on the Supreme Court, Barrett voted in line with her conservative colleagues on 70% and 73% of cases, respectively. Those votes made her among the top three most conservative justices on the bench in both the 2020 and 2021 terms. But by the 2022 term, she was only voting conservatively 56% of the time.
Shifting Dynamics
Nominated to the bench by then-President Donald Trump just a week after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, Barrett not only replaced a liberal icon but decisively shifted the Supreme Court to the right and solidified its new conservative supermajority. For the same reasons that Barrett was a favorite among evangelicals and social conservatives, Democrats opposed her nomination, portraying Barrett and her conservative record as a threat to progressive legal achievements, like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and reproductive rights.
Key Decisions
- Barrett joined her conservative colleagues in striking down Roe v. Wade.
- She surprised observers by voting to maintain access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
- Barrett allowed Idaho hospitals to continue providing emergency abortions, for now.
- Despite fears, she voted to uphold the ACA during her first term.
This article was prepared using information from open sources in accordance with the principles of Ethical Policy. The editorial team is not responsible for absolute accuracy, as it relies on data from the sources referenced.