Trump: Next Supreme Court Justice Appointment Will Be Pro-Life
In the days since the comments that Donald Trump made about abortion and the possible future over-turning of the 1973 ruling Roe Vs. Wade, which made abortions legal with states deciding stipulations, there has been a flurry of media activity and speakers from all political camps weighing in on what he said.
Trump’s spokesperson has since attempted to clarify his statement that women would be punished for getting a hypothetical illegal abortion, and said instead that doctors would be punished for performing them, stating that both the woman and her unborn child were victims.
“At this moment the laws are set. And I think we have to leave it that way. The laws are set now on abortion and that’s the way they’re going to remain until they’re changed.”
That comment is a given since Trump, nor anyone else, has the power to overturn the laws that dictate abortion rights at this moment, but the sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year means that a new Supreme Court Justice will be appointed, and Donald Trump said on March 21 that abortion rights were going to factor on that decision if he had a choice in the matter.
“Yeah, we’re gonna look at that. We’re gonna look — it’s gonna be pro-life.”
Many have accused Trump of back-tracking his statements on abortion earlier this week, but his campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks said that the words were being misconstrued.
“Mr. Trump gave an accurate account of the law as it is today and made clear it must stay that way now–until he is President. Then he will change the law through his judicial appointments and allow the states to protect the unborn. There is nothing new or different here.”
When asked about his remarks concerning a possible abortion ban for the interview that will air on Sunday, Trump was quick to point out he’d prefer to leave it at the state level.
“I would’ve preferred states’ rights. I think it would’ve been better if it were up to the states. But right now, the laws are set. And that’s the way the laws are.”
Confusion has arisen, as earlier in his life Trump was a proponent of abortion rights. When clarifying what he said on MSNBC‘s interview about a hypothetical situation of a woman obtaining an illegal abortion, Trump stated that he was viewing the hypothetical question from an older, more conservative viewpoint.
“A question was asked to me. And it was asked in a very hypothetical. And it was said, ‘Illegal, illegal.’ I’ve been told by some people that was an older line answer and that was an answer that was given on a, you know, basis of an older line from years ago on a very conservative basis.”
From his words, it is uncertain if he still subscribes to the older-line thinking, but the question that was posed to him was concerning his views on abortion today, which caused a public outcry about abortion rights and hashtags against his stance to show up on Twitter.
Trump caused a political firestorm by indicating that he would want a hypothetical woman punished, but not a man that was the father of the baby and helped her get an abortion. Now, he says neither should be punished – the physician performing the abortion should be, if abortion was made illegal again in the United States.
[Photo by John Moore/Getty Images]
