President Trump made some pretty strong campaign promises to appeal to conservative voters, including a vow to nominate a Supreme Court justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Trump's pick to fill the vacancy on the bench, Neil Gorsuch, began his confirmation hearings on March 20, and as you can expect, he was extensively grilled on the topic. While he was forced to answer questions specifically pertaining to the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, Gorsuch's comments about abortion, both in the confirmation hearings and in past statements, make it difficult to know what his views on the subject really are.
Gorsuch cautiously tip-toed around the question of whether or not he would work to overturn Roe, as Trump repeatedly promised he would, by stating in his confirmation hearing that he would honor the precedent set by the ruling. But in the past, he has expressed a firm commitment to protecting the inviolability of human life by opposing assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Roe v. Wade has ensured for decades that women across the country have access to safe abortion procedures. While state-wide laws that attempt to restrict access to abortion are ubiquitous, a nation-wide repeal of Roe v. Wade would affect more than 37 million women, according to a report by the Center for Reproductive Rights.
A lot is riding on this Supreme Court pick, most notably women's fundamental right to have autonomy over their own reproductive decisions. That being said, Gorsuch's past comments on the subject will surely be subject to scrutiny. Here are a few of his most notable comments: