July 8, 2018

Democratic Senators Issue Last-Minute Warnings About Trump’s Supreme Court Pick

As Trump wades through robed candidates, Roe v. Wade is in the balance.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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President Donald Trump will announce his pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy during a Prime Time slot on Monday night. As Trump spent the day wading through robed candidates, Democratic senators tweeted reminders that the president’s pick could undo Roe v. Wade: 

The appointment of another conservative justice to the Supreme Court creates the possibility that the court could overturn its landmark 1973 abortion rights ruling, opening the door for Republicans to legislate a sea change in abortion access across the country.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump said that a willingness to overturn Roe v. Wade would be a litmus test for anyone he considered for the high court. During a presidential debate in 2016, Trump said Wade would be “automatically” overturned if he had the opportunity to appoint multiple justices. Trump has since downplayed those remarks, indicating in a recent interview with Fox News that his advisors have discouraged him from asking potential nominees outright if they would vote to overturn the Roe precedent. “They’re all saying, don’t do that, you don’t do that, you shouldn’t do that,” he told Maria Bartiromo. “But I’m putting conservative people on.”

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