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Amy Coney Barrett on the first day of the Justice Committee hearing in Washington
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Caroline Brehman / AP
At the start of Amy Coney Barrett's Senate hearing, the US Democrats warned of the consequences of her appointment as Supreme Court judge.
They see the American health system, which was reformed under ex-President Barack Obama, at risk.
"The health care of millions of Americans is at stake with this nomination," Senator Dianne Feinstein said on the Justice Committee.
There Barrett has to face parliamentarians' questions for several days.
The Democrats point out, among other things, that Barrett has criticized the arguments of the Supreme Court in the past few years, with the Obama's "Affordable Care Act" was confirmed as constitutional.
On November 10th, the Supreme Court is said to deal for the first time with a lawsuit between Texas and California, in which it comes to the evaluation of the "Affordable Care Act".
Democrats fear that corona consequences could also count as previous illnesses
The health reform enforced, among other things, that Americans may not be denied health insurance because of previous illnesses.
The Democrats argue that with a cancellation by the Supreme Court, consequences of a corona infection could also count as a pre-existing illness that stands in the way of health insurance.
President Donald Trump and the Senate Republicans plan to take Barrett to the Supreme Court ahead of the November 3rd presidential election.
The final vote is scheduled for October 22nd.
The President made no secret of the fact that he was also interested in possible legal disputes regarding the counting of votes in the election.
The President's actions caused outrage among the Democrats: They unsuccessfully demanded that the personnel be decided after the election.
In 2016, the Republicans in the Senate blocked the appointment of a vacant Supreme Court post by Trump's predecessor Obama for months, arguing that voters should have a say indirectly through the presidential election.
Trump was then able to fill the post at the powerful Supreme Court after his election victory.
With Barrett, he can now fill the third post on the Supreme Court since he took office.
She is to succeed the liberal judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September.
With their appointment, the Conservatives would get a dominant majority of six of the nine seats in the Supreme Court.
The court often has the final say in litigation on politically contested issues such as immigration or the right to abortion.
The judges are proposed by the President and appointed for life by the Senate.
There the Republicans hold 53 of the 100 seats.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar admitted that the opposition Democrats cannot prevent Barrett's appointment.
But they have a "secret weapon": the vote of the Republican senator's voters.
She called on citizens to call the Senate and give their opinion.
Barrett wants to make a statement on Monday, the content of which has been published in advance by the US media.
Accordingly, she wants to speak, among other things, about the role of the judiciary in the USA: "Political decisions and value judgments about the government must be made by the political authorities that have elected the people and are responsible to the people," says the draft of the statement.
"The public shouldn't expect this from the courts and the courts shouldn't try."
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mes / dpa / AFP