Appearing on “Sunday Morning Futures” with the Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, President Donald Trump discussed appointing a judge to the Supreme Court who would overturn the Roe v. Wade decision and make the legalization of abortion an issue for the states to individually decide.
Trump basically signals he will appoint a judge who could overturn Roe v. Wade, even as he says he may not directly ask the question because people told him he shouldn’t. pic.twitter.com/UbOC8SeLII
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) July 1, 2018
There are several things that stand out about Trump’s response:
- Although he says “probably not,” it looks as if he is going to adhere to the advice he has been given about questioning protocol and not directly ask a potential nominee about a specific decision.
- He is clearly (based on these comments and others) going to put another conservative on the bench. He seems to be very pleased with the performance of Neil Gorsuch thus far.
- In this commentary and other remarks Trump has made, he has indicated that he would like to see the legalization and parameters of abortion be decided by the individual states and not at the federal level.
Good. https://t.co/Jyb3LlN2CJ
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 1, 2018
Meanwhile, one of the swing votes in the U.S. Senate is Maine Republican Susan Collins. She stated Sunday morning that she will not support a nominee who shows hostility to Roe v. Wade.
"I would not support a nominee who would show hostility to Roe. V Wade because that would not show respect to established tradition to established law," Sen. Susan Collins told @jaketapper.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 1, 2018
There is a lot of process yet to go, starting with Trump naming a nominee. Seating another pro-life judge to the Supreme Court does seem to be a priority for the president.