Over 900,000 Petitions Demand Impeachment of Justice Thomas Following US Abortion Rights Overturn

Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling overturning abortion rights, the number of signatories demanding the impeachment of conservative Justice Clarence Thomas (73) has surpassed 900,000.

As of 7 a.m. on the 3rd (Korean time), the number of signatories to the petition demanding the impeachment of Justice Thomas, posted on the American online petition site 'MoveOn' (moveon.org), was approximately 917,875.

Justice Thomas is the most senior active justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, having been appointed in 1991 by then-President George W. Bush. He has been regarded as the most conservative justice, issuing conservative rulings on issues that have sparked controversy in American society. In 1992, the year after his appointment, he dissented in the ruling that reaffirmed the legalization of abortion in the landmark case Roe v. Wade, becoming an icon of conservatism.

On the 24th of last month, when the Roe v. Wade ruling was overturned, he stirred controversy by arguing in a concurring opinion that errors in precedents guaranteeing contraception, homosexuality, and same-sex marriage should be corrected.

The petition site claimed that Justice Thomas made it clear that following the overturning of Roe v. Wade last week, he would next overturn rulings that established rights related to homosexuality and contraception.

It also pointed out that despite evidence that Justice Thomas's wife, Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist, sided with former President Donald Trump and moved to overturn the 2020 election results, Justice Thomas did not recuse himself from related Supreme Court cases.

U.S. media reported in March that Ginni Thomas helped former President Trump by sending text messages to Mark Meadows, then White House Chief of Staff at the end of 2020, referring to the election results as 'the biggest theft in history.'

When former President Trump challenged the election results by filing lawsuits with the Supreme Court, and when the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot requested access to White House documents last year, Justice Thomas issued dissenting opinions favorable to President Trump's side.

The petition site urged, "Justice Thomas has shown that he cannot be a fair judge and that he is more interested in covering up his wife's coup attempt than the well-being of the Supreme Court. He must resign. If not, Congress must immediately investigate and impeach him."