Beyond Abortion: Democrats’ Focus On Kavanaugh’s Threat To Health Law To Protect Red-State Candidates

The Hill: Dems Strategy On Trump Pick: Unify Around Health Care 
The liberal base is fired up about abortion rights, but Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) will seek to emphasize access to affordable health care as much as Roe v. Wade in the battle over the Supreme Court. In sharp contrast to the Obama era, Schumer thinks health care is the Democrats’ best weapon. By putting the charged issue of women’s reproductive rights within the broader framework of access to health care, the matter is likely to be less polarizing in red states. (Bolton, 7/9)

Los Angeles Times: Democrats Hope Obamacare Fears Will Derail Kavanaugh As White House Moves To Soften His Image
[T]o hold onto Democrats representing conservative states won by Trump, Democrats are increasingly talking about how Kavanaugh might shift the balance on President Obama’s healthcare law, a unifying issue that tends to poll well. And so far it seems to be working on vulnerable Democrats in red states. Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — who last year voted for Trump’s first Supreme Court selection — immediately picked up on the talking point, saying that he would consider the “nearly 800,000 West Virginians with preexisting conditions” when making his confirmation vote. Though Manchin promised to keep an open mind, the statement suggested a willingness to vote against the nomination, bucking Trump, who is popular in his state. (Wire and Bierman, 7/10)

Kaiser Health News: Democrats Rally Against Threats To The ACA To Block Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee
Democratic senators spent Tuesday trying to connect the dots between potential threats to health care and Trump’s high court pick. “President Trump as a candidate made it very clear that his priority was to put justices on the court who would correct for the fatal flaw of John Roberts,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on the Senate floor Tuesday. Chief Justice Roberts was the decisive fifth vote to uphold the ACA in a key case in 2012. “[Republicans’] new strategy is to use the court system to invalidate the protections in the law for people with preexisting conditions,” Murphy said. (Rovner, 7/10)

Modern Healthcare: Kavanaugh Pick Could Affect Future Of Obamacare, Medicaid Work Requirements
A number of important healthcare cases could make their way to the high court in the coming years, and Kavanaugh's vote could swing those decisions. They include a new Republican challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act; a patient lawsuit against Medicaid work requirements; challenges to the Trump administration's cuts of ACA risk-corridor, risk-adjustment, and cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers; and lawsuits by Medicaid patients seeking the right to see the provider of their choice. (Meyer, 7/`10)

Stat: Brett Kavanaugh Has Left Trail Of Opinions On Health Care And Pharma Issues
Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, has left a trail of rulings and opinions concerning the Food and Drug Administration, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device manufacturers in his dozen years on the District of Columbia circuit court. At one point, Kavanaugh urged judges to defer to the FDA and other scientific agencies, largely on the grounds that courts could not compete with the agencies’ expertise. He also sided with the FDA in a case over whether the agency should be forced to provide access to an unapproved drug. (Facher, 7/10)

The New York Times: Brett Kavanaugh On The Issues: Abortion, Guns, Climate And More
On issues as diverse as abortion and gun rights to disputes over national-security policies and business regulations, Judge Kavanaugh emphasized textual limitations while frequently favoring corporations over regulators, and the government over individuals claiming rights violations. With a few exceptions, his pattern is typically conservative. To be sure, Judge Kavanaugh’s history on the bench is not a perfect guide to the approach he would pursue if confirmed to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom he once clerked. Appeals court judges are bound to obey Supreme Court precedent, but justices are free to vote to overturn past rulings. (Savage, 7/10)

Reuters: Trump High Court Pick Kavanaugh May Face Contentious Cases Soon
President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee may not have to wait too long for controversial cases if he is confirmed to the job, with disputes involving abortion, immigration, gay rights, voting rights and transgender troops possibly heading toward the justices soon. Republicans are hoping Brett Kavanaugh, the conservative U.S. appeals court judge selected on Monday by Trump to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, will be confirmed by the Senate before the next Supreme Court term opens in October. (Hurley and Chung, 7/10)

Kaiser Health News: If High Court Reverses Roe V. Wade, 22 States Poised To Ban Abortion
What would the U.S. look like without Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that legalized abortion nationwide?That’s the question now that President Donald Trump has chosen conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. (Rovner, 7/10)

The Washington Post: Pence: I Want Roe V. Wade Overturned, ‘But I Haven’t Been Nominated For The Supreme Court’
Vice President Pence said Tuesday that while he would personally like to see the Supreme Court one day overturn its landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion, neither he nor President Trump has discussed the issue with Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett M. Kavanaugh. Asked by CNN’s Dana Bash whether he wants to see Roe v. Wade overturned, Pence replied, “I do, but I haven’t been nominated for the Supreme Court.” “I stand for the sanctity of life,” Pence added. “This administration, this president are pro-life, but what the American people ought to know is that, as the president said today, this is not an issue that he discussed with Judge Kavanaugh.” (Sonmez, 7/10)