Trump Promises ‘Four Or Five’ Anti-Abortion Supreme Court Justices
Donald Trump started courting conservative groups Tuesday night with the promise to appoint four or five anti-abortion Supreme Court justices.
“I will protect [life] and the biggest way you can protect it is through the Supreme Court, and putting people on the court. Actually the biggest way you can protect it I guess is my electing me President,” said Donald Trump while speaking with Fox News.
Donald Trump illustrated his point by suggesting that he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would consider overturning Roe v. Wade – the landmark ruling which decriminalized abortion at the federal level. Telling Bill O’Reilly he would appoint “four or five” justices to the Supreme Court, Donald Trump reiterated his point by stating that the potential appointment of Supreme Court justices is almost as important to conservative voters as national security, reports Talking Points Memo.
“One of the most important things, other than the security itself of the country, is going to be four or five Supreme Court justices. They’ll be pro-life and we’ll see about overturning Roe v. Wade,” said Donald Trump during the interview with Bill O’Reilly.
March 21st: Trump says he'll only appoint Supreme Court justices approved by right-wing Heritage Foundation: https://t.co/OenQ56c01k
— EMILYs List (@emilyslist) May 11, 2016
The presumptive Republican nominee went on to describe his position on abortion, a move that has assuaged the fears of some groups that have criticized Trump for his stance on abortion. According to the Daily Kos, anti-abortion groups are rallying around Donald Trump after months of skepticism of the New York billionaire’s conservative credentials.
Speaking with Bill O’Reilly last night, Donald Trump returned to conservative talking points, reiterating that he would appoint as many conservative justices to the Supreme Court as possible.
“I’m going to put conservative judges on, I think one of the biggest things happening in terms of this election are, you know, it could be as many as fight judges will be appointed over the next four and a half years, so we’re talking about five judges,” said Donald Trump.
Previously, conservative groups advocating for pro-life and anti-abortion groups, like the Susan B. Anthony List, have criticized Donald Trump’s stance on abortion, which has been, in the past, more flexible.
“America will only be a great nation when we have leaders of strong character who will defend both unborn children and the dignity of women. We cannot trust Donald Trump to do either,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the head of the Susan B. Anthony List, while speaking to Iowa voters early on in the primary season.
Now, however, Dannenfelser has come around, supporting Donald Trump with an article posted to conservative news site Townhall, titled “The Pro-Life Case for Trump.” It’s good news for the Trump campaign, which has had a hard time bringing around die-hard conservative voters – the ones who previously supported Ted Cruz – due to allegations that Donald Trump isn’t conservative enough or that he’s not a “real Republican.”
Senate GOP pressures Trump over Supreme Court https://t.co/nxy2hcU1c7 | Getty pic.twitter.com/2WSdpuXIwL
— POLITICO (@politico) May 10, 2016
Dannenfelser had previously attacked Donald Trump for “flip-flopping” on the issue of abortion, stating that his views and policies were contradictory and disqualified himself from the GOP race. When Trump had previously stated that he believed women who sought abortions should be punished and quickly backed off of that position, Dannenfelser slammed Trump for “inconsistency,” reports Mother Jones.
“He has completely contradicted himself. If this is his position, he has just disqualified himself as the GOP nominee,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser earlier this year.
Today, however, faced with a choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, Dannenfelser isn’t the only die-hard conservative who has changed her tune. Many conservative commentators are slowly coming around to the idea of a Donald Trump presidency, including Marco Rubio, who has stated that he’ll vote for Trump, but he won’t be happy about it.
[Photo by Mark Lyons/Getty Images]
