The Kavanaugh Hearings: Where To Start If You Haven’t Tuned In

If the word Kavanaugh sounds more like an hors d’oeuvre than a headline, the news storm surrounding Trump’s Supreme Court nominee may have gone straight over your head. This may be because you don’t care for US politics, or for you, Trump’s presidency resembles wrestling more than democratic leadership, but right now, if you’re a woman, there is every reason to tune in.

Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has always been a controversial figure for women. He is a conservative judge being picked to join a conservative-weighted Supreme Court, which could potentially put Roe V. Wade, the landmark ruling legalising abortion in the states, in jeopardy. But as Brett Kavanaugh was questioned in Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this month before his impending appointment to the highest court of the land, a woman, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist in Northern California, came forward to accuse him of sexually assaulting her in the ‘80s. They were teenagers, she claimed, at a gathering in suburban Washington. Since then, Kavanaugh’s bid for the Supreme Court has been in jeopardy. The New Yorker has published sexual misconduct allegations from a second woman, dated back to Kavanaugh’s time at Yale. And this Thursday, Ford will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for all the world to see. So here’s what you need to know before the day arrives.