A review by the Associated Press shows that several candidates for President Donald Trump's federal court have revealed their anti-abortion views and are associated with anti-abortion groups or defense abortion restrictions.
Some have helped to protect state abortion restrictions in court, while some have been involved in lawsuits that have had national impacts, including access to medication abortion.
Trump has said that abortion-related issues should be left to the state, but the candidate will be in a position to roll back abortion rights after Trump leaves the White House, with a lifelong appointment.
Trump is inconsistent with abortion
Trump repeatedly shifts his message about abortion, often giving contradictory or vague answers.
In the years before his recent presidential election, Trump has expressed support for a federal ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, saying he may support a national ban for around 15 weeks.
He later settled on messaging that decisions regarding abortion access should be left to the state.
Files – President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order related to the tolerance of anti-abortion protesters on January 23, 2025, to sign the executive order at the White House Oval Office in Washington.
Ben Curtis/Applications
Through his campaign, Trump, Roev. He alternated between appointing a Supreme Court judge who overturned Wade and helped him to strike a more neutral tone.
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It was an effort to navigate political disparities between the foundations of anti-abortion advocates and the wider public who primarily support access to abortion.
Many candidates have anti-abortion backgrounds
One Trump candidate called abortion a “bad practice” and another called himself an anti-abortion “fanart.”
The Tennessee candidate said abortion deserves special scrutiny, as “it is the only medical procedure that will end your life.”
One Missouri person spread misinformation about abortion. This includes “starving babies” in a lawsuit aimed at challenging the approval of Mifepristone, a Food and Drug Administration abortion drug.
Legal experts and abortion rights advocates have warned of systematically reshaping federal courts in ways that could pose a lasting threat to abortion access nationwide.
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Bernadette Myler, a professor of constitutional law at Stanford University, said the appointment of justice is “a way to shape abortion questions into the federal government without passing through Congress or making a big, explicit statement.”
“This is a bit of a way to hide what's going on in the abortion field compared to laws and executive orders that can be more prominent, dramatic, and more repulsive,” she said.
The candidate represents Trump's “promise” to Americans: White House
“All candidates for the president represent his promise to the American people and are consistent with the US Supreme Court's landmark ruling,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields said.
“The Democratic Party's extreme position on abortion was rejected in November in favor of President Trump's common sense approach, which allows the nation to decide, support the sanctity of human life and prevent taxpayers from funding for abortion,” Fields said in a statement to the Associated Press.
Trump focused primarily on the economy and immigration during his 2024 campaign, and the issues the survey presented were the most important topics for voters.
Abortion prevention groups, abortion rights advocates respond
Anti-abortion advocates say it is too early to determine whether a candidate supports the goal, but there is hope based on the names given so far.
“We look forward to the reduction of candidates for another four years from that mold,” said Katie Glenn Daniel, legal director at SBA Pro-Life America, a national anti-abortion organization.
Abortion rights advocates said Trump is embedding abortion enemies into one of the judiciary at once.
“This is just feeding this big strategy that Trump says to distance himself from abortion and appointing anti-abortion extremists at all levels of the government,” said Minitim Maraj, president of Reproductive Freedom, a national abortion rights organization.
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