Posted on 11/15/2016 10:12:34 AM PST by SeekAndFind
President-elect Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment to nominating pro-life justices to the Supreme Court but suggested an unwillingness to go further to ban abortion nationwide.
Asked specifically in a "60 Minutes" interview on CBS Sunday if he wants the Supreme Court to repeal the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, Trump said that at most the decision would mean women would have to travel to pro-abortion states to get an abortion.
"Here's what's going to happen," Trump told Leslie Stahl of the news magazine program. "I'm going to — I'm pro-life. The judges will be pro-life."
He continued: "Having to do with abortion — if it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states."
When asked if women would be unable to receive abortions if their home states ban them, Trump said: "Yeah, well, they'll perhaps have to go, they'll have to go to another state."
"We'll see what happens," he added. "It's got a long way to go, just so you understand. That has a long, long way to go."
A Supreme Court appointment is expected to be one of the first decisions Trump will face in his presidency. A seat once occupied by Justice Antonin Scalia has remained vacant since his death in February, even though President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill it.
Gretchen Borchelt, vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Women's Law Center, believes Vice President-elect Mike Pence is the driving force behind Trump's pro-life stance.
"He's absolutely the one pushing this," she told The Telegraph. "He was a leader in Congress to defund Planned Parenthood, and has enacted some incredibly restrictive legislation in Indiana.
"This has always been a priority for him — and now he has more power."
As a form of protest, abortion supporters have been making donations to Planned Parenthood in Pence's name and the organization itself has pledged to resist any effort to restrict access to abortion.
"Extreme lawmakers think Trump's election gives them a mandate to roll back rights for women, LGBTQ folks, religious minorities, people with disabilities and people of color. They're starting to move on discriminatory legislation before Trump has even taken office," Planned Parenthood said in a statement.
"We need to send a message — loud and clear — right now. We're stronger than they are — more powerful, more committed — and we won't back down. The resistance starts now," it added.
Borchelt agreed. She told The Telegraph that while Trump could indeed oversee the repeal of Roe v. Wade if another Supreme Court judge retires and is replaced with a pro-life advocate, the resistance to such a move would be fierce.
"Seven out of ten Americans think that abortion should be legal, so if Mississippi or Louisiana or Texas tries to ban abortion entirely, there would be a huge outcry," she said.
"People would be shocked and appalled and terrified. And we are going to fight against that. It would be a throwback to a dangerous era," she added.
Lila Rose, president and founder of the national pro-life organization Live Action, sees the election outcome as a rejection of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's extreme pro-abortion positions.
"Planned Parenthood has been defeated at the ballot box. Despite the millions Planned Parenthood and its allies spent to elect a pro-abortion president and Congress, voters roundly rejected the abortion agenda of Hillary Clinton and the abortion industry that backed her campaign. When the abortion lobby pushed for unregulated abortions through all nine months of pregnancy and wanted to force taxpayers to pay for them, the American people pushed back," she said in a statement after Trump's historic win.
"Because of the pro-life pledges Donald Trump made during the campaign, there is now a clear path to end the public funding that enables the dismemberment, poisoning, or starving to death of one million innocent children each year. It's critical that we unite to hold Mr. Trump to those pledges to defund Planned Parenthood, to appoint pro-life Supreme Court justices, and to ensure that taxpayers are never forced to fund abortions," she continued.
Rose further added: "Public opinion on abortion is transforming as more and more Americans recognize life inside the womb and refuse to accept the idea that women's rights are incompatible with children's rights. Increasingly, Americans are pro-life and demand better for both women and preborn children than the violence that our laws condone."
I would think he would:
1.) Sign any bill in congress that de-funds planned parenthood.
2.) Implement Mexico City Amendment, this bans US funds from funding abortion overseas. (Clinton revoked, Bush re-instated, Obama revoked if I have this info correct)
So, I think the article is a bit of spin. The journalist did not know this.
He stated he wants abortion decided at the state level. Trump is not gonna fall on the sword of social issues or entitlement reform. The media is gonna try to drag him into entitlement reform next in order to get him to piss on the third rail of social security. He has his issues and he is going to focus on them.
States issue.
In the context of reality please.
Currently the SCOTUS decision stands in the way of anyone doing anything.
With pro-life judges we can get that reversed.
Wouldn’t a bunch of executive orders for things that are abhorrent to the left be great theater?
Trump didn’t get in yet. First, let’s see if he will reinstate Bush’s Mexico City policy and SC justices like Scalia.
I don’t know everything there is to know, but isn’t appointing pro-life judges basically the ONLY, and most crucial thing he can do?
Does the Christian Post prefer baby killer Hillary?
He said women will have to be punished. I guess that crossing state lines is partial punishment.
Agreed.
Trump was exactly right when he said that if Roe v. Wade was overturned, the abortion issue would subsequently be handled at the state level, which is as it should be.
The pro-life argument is that abortion is murder. Laws regarding murder, including its definition, degree and penalties, have always varied from state to state.
The most that the federal government can rightly do is to see Roe v. Wade overturned, stop funding abortion with taxpayer money, and stop forcing citizens to pay for it or participate in providing it.
But there is no justification for some type of federal law that seeks to entirely outlaw abortion in the U.S. That is a matter for the individual states to decide.
Good idea.
Why don’t you get with the author of this piece, and the rest of the #Never Trumper in the “Conservative” media, and share that idea?
he need do nothing else besides elect pro life conservative judges, the rest will fall in place once that is done.
This is political quick sand that Trump should avoid
Appoint pro-life justices and move on
The white, blue collar Americans who voted for Trump out in PA, OH, MI, IN, WI did so because of his economic policies and trade negotiations, not because of his stance on Abortion
We need to focus and avoid the social issue swamp that the left is hoping Trump will fall into
Congress has always had that power, and those who refuse to consider using it, are not really interested in stopping what they claim to want to stop.
Actually, yes, you are absolutely correct that they want him to outlaw it by fiat.
During the primaries I had a knock down drag out verbal brawl with some Freepers who vehemently opposed pro life laws specifically because they didn’t outright outlaw abortion. When I asked them what their alternative was, they outright said a Presidential decree.
Actually, for whatever it’s worth, coming from the Family Research Council, 60% of Trump’s voters were impacted by the GOP’s pro-religious, pro-life platform:
“November 11, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — Family Research Council today released the results of a commissioned survey conducted by WPA Opinion Research showing that nearly 60 percent of Trump voters agreed that their vote was impacted by the Republican Party platform’s “strong positions on unborn human life and religious liberty.”
Yes but, they did not win the election for him, the voters out in MI, OH, IN, WI, PA did
The blue collar guy who is tired of seeing jobs going to illegal or overseas
He usually doesn’t vote because it doesn’t matter, the parties are both the same, until Trump came along
Trust me, they did not vote for Trump because of Gay Marriage or Abortion
Other than appointing pro life justices to the supreme court, which what he would do, possibly defunding planned parenthood (congress are you listening this time?) I think he should concentrate on Jobs, economy, trade deals, immigration and national security. Stay out of the social issues swamp as much as he can.
Trump can do more than appoint pro-life justices.
He can enforce the Hyde amendment that the rats ignore.
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