--- title: Donald Trump Supreme Court Choices on Abortion description: Find out what Donald Trump's three top Supreme Court picks stand on the issue of abortion. canonical: https://time.com/4653998/donald-trump-abortion-supreme-court/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-30T20:58:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:15:13.591Z og:title: Here's Where Donald Trump's Supreme Court Picks Stand on Abortion og:description: One called 'Roe v. Wade' an ‘abomination' og:url: https://time.com/4653998/donald-trump-abortion-supreme-court/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6e133ecd16c9994/6988b7de524fc0163edfaea6/donald-trump-abortion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: President Trump Signs Executive Order In Oval Office Of The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Where Donald Trump's Supreme Court Picks Stand on Abortion twitter:description: One called 'Roe v. Wade' an ‘abomination' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6e133ecd16c9994/6988b7de524fc0163edfaea6/donald-trump-abortion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Where Donald Trump's Supreme Court Picks Stand on Abortion > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=ec223c3c-ede9-436e-a8af-0e09d597519d&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EA1urb8K.m3u8) (3:09)  _Published 2017-02-01. President Trump announced Tuesday that he has nominated to the Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch, a federal judge in Colorado with a similar writing style and outlook on the Constitution as the late Justice Antonin Scalia._  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jan 30, 2017 8:58 PM UTC  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jan 30, 2017 8:58 PM UTC As President Donald Trump [prepares to](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/white-house-supreme-court-choice-announced-monday-45131791) name his Supreme Court pick this week, abortion rights activists [fear](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/30/supreme-court-trump-senate-republicans-democrats-nomination-confirmation/97097870/) the choice could unravel the rights guaranteed under _Roe v. Wade._ On the campaign trail, Trump promised that he’d [nominate](http://motto.time.com/4538293/donald-trump-partial-birth-abortion-third-debate/) an anti-abortion Supreme Court justice. Vice President Mike Pence doubled down on that promise, saying that the next Supreme Court nominee [would be against](http://time.com/4651958/mike-pence-anti-abortion-supreme-court-justice-march-for-life/) abortion at the recent [March for Life demonstration](http://motto.time.com/4651942/kellyanne-conway-speech-march-for-life/?iid=sr-link1)**.** Three finalists [have emerged](http://time.com/4650544/supreme-court-nominees-donald-trump/?iid=sr-link1) for the seat vacated by the late [Justice Antonin Scalia](http://time.com/4220770/antonin-scalia-influence/?iid=sr-link1). Here’s where each stands on issues of reproductive rights. **Neil Gorsuch** The Harvard Law School graduate has never ruled on the issue of abortion during his time on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. But some individuals on both sides of the issue have interpreted passages in [the judge’s book](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-supreme-court-gorsuch-20170123-story.html), _The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia,_ to indicate an anti-abortion stance, according [to the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts%5Flaw/neil-gorsuch-naturally-equipped-for-his-spot-on-trumps-supreme-court-shortlist/2017/01/28/91b00a46-e49b-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.b6a8a93f7531). The book, according to the _Post,_ says “all human beings are intrinsically valuable and the intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong.” Gorsuch also sided with religious organizations in [_Hobby Lobby v._ ](https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/12/12-6294.pdf)[_Sebelius_](https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/12/12-6294.pdf)in which the plaintiffs sought an exemption from the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act because of their beliefs. “The ACA’s mandate requires them to violate their religious faith by forcing them to lend an impermissible degree of assistance to conduct their religion teaches to be gravely wrong,” Gorsuch [wrote.](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/judge-neil-gorsuch-scotus-nominee/story?id=45008516) (The Supreme Court upheld the appeals court when they [heard the case](http://time.com/2941323/supreme-court-contraception-ruling-hobby-lobby/?iid=sr-link2).) And another part of his opinion in the _Hobby Lobby_ case is likely to have abortion rights advocates concerned, according to the _Post_. He [wrote](http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=12-6294&s=OK&d=61748) that the mandate would require businesses with religious beliefs to “underwrite payments for drugs or devices that can have the effect of destroying a fertilized human egg” — language that resembles the rhetoric of the anti-abortion movement. **Thomas Hardiman** Like Gorsuch, Hardiman — a graduate of Georgetown Law School and a judge on the 3rd Circuit of Appeals — [has never ruled](http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/01/potential-nominee-profile-thomas-hardiman/) on a case or spoken out about his personal beliefs on abortion rights. “Our role as judges is to interpret the law,” Hardiman has said, [according to CBS News.](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/march-for-life-anti-abortion-trump-supreme-court-justice-william-pryor-thomas-hardiman/) He did, however, [vote in favor](http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/01/potential-nominee-profile-thomas-hardiman/) of vacating the conviction of an anti-abortion protester in [_United States v. Marcavage_](http://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/093573p.pdf)_._ In the case, the court agreed that the protester had the right to stand on a Philadelphia sidewalk after he was arrested for violating his permit. **William Pryor** Pryor, the former attorney general of Alabama and a judge on the 11th Circuit of Appeals, is outspoken on the issue of abortion. He once [called](http://motto.time.com/4538293/donald-trump-partial-birth-abortion-third-debate/) _Roe v. Wade_ the “worst abomination in the history of constitutional law.” He has also been quoted as [saying](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/24/trump-s-final-supreme-court-candidates-are-all-arch-conservatives.html): “I will never forget Jan. 22, 1973, the day seven members of our highest court ripped the Constitution and ripped out the life of millions of unborn children.” Pryor [opposes abortion](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/21/us/bypassing-senate-for-second-time-bush-seats-judge.html) even in cases of rape and incest. He has [also written that corporations](http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/01/potential-nominee-profile-william-pryor/) should not be required to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees should it violate their religious beliefs. And, during his tenure as attorney general of Alabama, he filed [an amicus brief](http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/pryor.html) against the Violence Against Women’s Act because a provision that would have allowed rape victims to sue their rapists in federal court was, Pryor wrote, a violation of “states’ rights.” ## Transcript When Justice Kalia passed away suddenly last February, I made a promise to the American people. If I were elected President, I would find the very best judge in the country for the Supreme Court. I promised to select someone who respects our laws. And is representative of our constitution, and who loves our constitution. And someone who will interpret them as written. Today, I am keeping another promise to the American people by nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch of the United States Supreme Court to be of. The United States Supreme Court. I took the task of this nomination very seriously. I have selected an individual whose qualities define really, and I mean closely define, what we're looking for. Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline, and has earned bipartisan support. Mr. President, thank you very much. Mr. President, Mr. Vice- President, you and your team have shown me great courtesy in this process. And you've entrusted me with a most solemn assignment. Standing here in a house of history, and acutely aware of my own imperfections. I pledge that if I am confirmed, I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the constitution and laws of this great country. The towering judges that have served in this particular seat of the Supreme Court, including Anton Scalia and Robert Jackson, are much in my mind at this moment. Justice Scalia was a lion of the law. Agree or disagree with him, all of his colleagues in the bench shares his wisdom and his humor, and like them I miss him. I consider the United States Senate the greatest deliberant body in the world and I respect the important role the constitution affords it in the confirmation of our judges. I respect too the fact that in our legal order, it is for Congress and not the courts to write new laws. It is a role of judges to apply not alter the work of the people's representatives. A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge. [ LAUGH ] Stretching for results he prefers rather than those the law demands. I am so thankful tonight for my family, my friends, and my faith. These are the things that keep me grounded at life's peaks and that sustained me in its valleys. To Louise, my incredible wife and companion Of 20 years. My cherished daughters who are watching on TV. [ LAUGH ] And all my family and friends. I cannot thank you enough for your love and for your prayers, I could not attempt this without you. Mr. President, I am honored and I humbled. 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