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Access to abortions has proven to be one of the most divisive issues in American politics.
President Donald Trump has said that it is “certainly possible” for his Supreme Court pick to participate in a ruling that revises the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States.
Trump said he did not discuss abortion rights with Amy Coney Barrett before electing her to the superior court.
But Ms. Coney Barrett was “certainly conservative in her views,” she said.
She has been chosen to replace the late Liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but awaits Senate confirmation.
Democrats and women’s rights advocates fear that Judge Barrett, a socially conservative jurist, could play a decisive role in any ruling that overturns the 1973 ruling to legalize abortion, known as Roe v Wade.
If Justice Barrett’s nomination is confirmed, conservative-leaning justices will have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, shifting their ideological balance over the next several decades.
Trump said he did not know how the judge would vote on the issue if his nomination was approved.
“In general, I’m looking for someone who can interpret the constitution as it is written. She is very firm on that,” Trump said in an interview with Fox & Friends on Sunday.
Trump announced on Saturday the nomination of Judge Barrett to the nation’s highest court in the White House, describing the 48-year-old as a “stellar scholar” with “unwavering loyalty to the constitution.”
The court’s nine justices serve life appointments and their rulings can shape America’s public policy on everything from gun and voting rights to abortion and campaign finance.
Judge Barrett is the third judge appointed by the current Republican President, after Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
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The issue of abortion was at the center of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
Since then, several conservative states have passed new restrictions on abortion that could lead to legal challenges in the Supreme Court.
What is Roe v Wade and why is it important?
Roe v Wade was the 1973 case that led to the legalization of abortions in the United States.
By a 7-2 vote, Supreme Court justices ruled that governments lacked the power to ban abortions.
The court’s ruling was based on the decision that a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy was under freedom of personal choice in family matters, protected by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The ruling came after a 25-year-old single woman, Norma McCorvey under the pseudonym “Jane Roe,” challenged the criminal abortion laws in Texas that prohibited abortion as unconstitutional except in cases where the mother’s life I was in danger.
Henry Wade was the Texas attorney general who upheld anti-abortion laws.
The decision, dated January 22, 1973, remains one of the most controversial the Supreme Court has ever made.
In the decades since, states have adopted laws limiting the right to abortion, prompting legal challenges and contentious political debates at the state and national levels.
In contrast, the more liberal American states have moved to implement their own laws to guarantee abortion rights for their residents.
President Trump has previously voiced support for restricting access to abortion, but his views have changed over time.
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What did Trump say about Roe v Wade?
In Sunday’s interview with Fox & Friends, Trump was asked if he would like to see Roe v Wade challenged and overturned if Judge Barrett’s nomination was confirmed.
“I didn’t think it was for me to discuss that with her, because it’s something she’s going to decide on,” Trump said. “But if you look at her past actions and decisions, I think she may be in the category you mentioned, I don’t know.”
When asked if a Supreme Court with a 6-3 conservative majority could rule on a “life issue,” Trump said: “It is certainly possible.”
He added: “Maybe they would do it in a different way. Maybe they would send it back to the states. You just don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Who is Amy Coney Barrett?
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame School of Law in Indiana, he worked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia. In 2017, Trump nominated her to the Chicago-based Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
She is described as a devout Catholic who, according to a 2013 magazine article, said that “life begins at conception.” This makes her a favorite among religious conservatives eager to nullify Roe v Wade.
- Who is Trump’s choice for the Supreme Court?
LGBT groups have criticized his membership in a conservative Catholic group, the People of Praise, whose network of schools has guidelines that establish the belief that sexual relations should only occur between heterosexual married couples.
Judge Barrett ruled in favor of President Trump’s hardline immigration policies and voiced opinions in favor of expansive gun rights.
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Judge Barrett was clerk to the late Judge Antonin Scalia
The Senate, the upper house of the United States Congress, will vote to confirm or reject Judge Barrett’s nomination.
Republicans have a small majority, but appear to already have the 51 votes needed for Judge Barrett to be confirmed.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised to hold a confirmation vote before the November 3 election.
Barring one surprise, Democrats appear to have few procedural options to prevent her from sliding down the Senate to the Supreme Court bench.
Battle for the Supreme Court
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