Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - One of These People Could Decide the Future of Your Rights. That Should Terrify You

A Republican president would shape Supreme Court decisions for decades to come.

The next president of the United States will almost certainly fill one or more vacancies on the Supreme Court.?

That means they'll have the power to influence laws for decades to come.

The average Supreme Court justice retires at around age 79. When the next president is sworn into office, three of the current justices on the bench will be over the age of 80.

Right now, the court is hearing arguments for Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case that could harm unions and undermine the foundation of collective bargaining rights. The decision in this case will directly impact millions of American workers.

And in this term, the Supreme Court will also rule on the future of voting rights, women's health, affirmative action, and immigration. The fate of America's most fundamental rights may depend on the person (or people) our next president chooses.

In an op-ed for the Boston Globe, Hillary Clinton lays out why the stakes are so high:

These aren't hypothetical scenarios: These cases will be in front of the Supreme Court this term and in the years to come. And one new conservative justice would be enough to tip the scales, because many important Supreme Court cases are decided by just one vote—including the case that made marriage equality the law of the land.

The Republican presidential candidates each have a vision for who they will appoint to the Supreme Court—and it's terrifying.

They want to stack the court with justices who will put constitutional rights in jeopardy. If the next president is a Republican, Americans could lose access to affordable health care, reproductive rights, and same-sex marriage in just a few short years.

Hillary understands the court's power to review and interpret our laws—but unlike the Republicans, she won't appoint justices who will move our country backwards.

A Republican president could stack the Supreme Court with justices who will rip away all of the progress we've made as a nation. We can't afford to let that happen.