Trump victory could imperil Roe v. Wade abortion ruling

In CBS 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl, Trump was asked by the host if he personally supported marriage equality to which he replied, “It’s irrelevant because it was already settled”. Even if the court eventually reverses itself, he says, “the issue would go back to the states, most of whom have repealed their pre-Roe prohibitions”. “While our abortion rights will remain protected here in California due to the strength of our state laws and Constitution, we will remain vigilant in speaking out against any Supreme Court nominee who will overturn our hard-fought American freedoms and impact the economic security of working families”. The only difference being that the Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage is only 17-months-old, while the decision legalizing abortion (Roe v. Wade) is 43-years-old.

Trump does not appear to be devoutly religious or a staunch ideological opponent of abortion or birth control. They may not be able to take the needed time off from work, or to arrange for childcare – almost 60 percent of people seeking abortions are already parents.

During the third presidential debate, Trump said overturning Roe V. Wade would happen “automatically” should he win. Forsythe suggested that some of those states might allow abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy, while restricting or banning later abortions. During the second trimester, the state can regulate abortion in ways that are reasonably related to women’s health. Two decades later in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the court upheld that basic right but allowed more limits based on the viability of the fetus.

“We know that the right [to abortion] has held up for over 40 years, and it’s held up through a variety of administrations, both pro-choice administrations and anti-choice administrations”, Rikelman continued. Twenty-seven states require waiting periods for women so they can be counseled before receiving an abortion. “These cases have gone to the Supreme Court, it’s settled and I’m fine with it”. What will be the court’s ideological makeup at that point? His campaign explained that the Republican was talking about punishment for doctors who perform abortions if the procedure were criminalized.

The current Supreme Court justices have taken a strong stand against such laws, and states that passed them now would probably find them struck down. And then Trump appoints two more conservative justices. Will you appoint – are you looking to appoint a justice who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade? What needs to happen? Will they return the favor and attempt to filibuster any Donald Trump nominee and make their goal to prevent a potential second term? Abortion is likely to remain legal in neighboring IL, but Safar said even that trip might be out of reach for many low-income women in Wisconsin.

Trump’s position is confusing because both are “settled law”, according to the courts. Even a conservative Court could decide it would simply be too disruptive to overrule this long-settled precedent on such a divisive social issue.

Asked about the upheaval in his own party triggered by Hillary Clinton’s widely unexpected loss, Obama offered an implicit critique of the former secretary of state’s campaign, saying, “We have to compete everywhere”. It was just a really big state that made it so abortion clinics were much fewer and further between.