--- description: With Gorsuch, Donald Trump has fulfilled his campaign promise of 'a pro-life justice in the mold of Justice Scalia' title: Neil Gorsuch Will Strengthen Fight Against Abortion Rights image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Law](/tag/law/) ## Law Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Neil Gorsuch Will Strengthen the Fight Against Abortion Rights by [Jeanne Mancini](/author/jeanne-mancini/) ## Jeanne Mancini Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2017 7:49 PM CUT by [Jeanne Mancini](/author/jeanne-mancini/) ## Jeanne Mancini Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2017 7:49 PM CUT Our country prioritized the Supreme Court as the [most important factor](http://www.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls;%20http:/abcnews.go.com/Politics/election-2016-national-exit-poll-results-analysis/story?id=43368675 "undefined") when voting last year. President [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/ "undefined"), with the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, has fulfilled his campaign promise of “a pro-life justice in the mold of Justice Scalia.” Though he has yet to rule explicitly on abortion, Gorsuch asserted in his 2006 book [_The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia_](http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8317.html "undefined")that “human life is intrinsically valuable and intentional killing is always wrong,” a principle that has been dutifully reflected throughout his extensive and impressive career. After graduating _cum laude_ from Harvard Law School and clerking for Judge David Sentelle in the D.C. Circuit Court, Gorsuch clerked for Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White, whom Gorsuch cited as a mentor during his nomination announcement. White, a staunch critic of _Roe v. Wade_, is famous for his 1986 dissent in [_Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists_](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1985/84-495 "undefined"), in which he refers to abortion as the death of a physical person. Gorsuch noted this dissent in his book. Gorsuch’s service on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has since bolstered his reputation as one with deep respect for life. As a nominee, he was confirmed rapidly with bipartisan support — not one vote was cast against him, not even from Senators Clinton, Obama or Schumer. The [American Bar Association](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/neil-gorsuch-american-bar-association-rating-235924 "undefined") gave him a unanimous “well-qualified” rating. [Gorsuch recently said](http://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4658&context=caselrev "undefined"), “Judges should be in the business of declaring what the law is using the traditional tools of interpretation, rather than pronouncing the law as they might wish it to be in light of their own political views, always with an eye on the outcome, and engaged perhaps in some Benthamite calculation of pleasures and pains along the way.” This point is especially popular with the large majority of American people. According to a January poll from Marist, eight out of ten Americans want a Supreme Court justice who will interpret the Constitution [as it was originally written](http://www.kofc.org/en/news/polls.html#/ "undefined"). By recognizing in both _Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius_ and _Little Sisters v. Burwell_ that the Affordable Care Act’s mandate is oppressive to many consciences, and by showing that even a stillborn baby’s rights deserve protection in [_Pino v. United States_](http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/02/judge-neil-gorsuch-10th-circuit/ "undefined")_,_ Gorsuch consistently affirms that, as an originalist, he would have all rights to life in mind as a Justice. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4705897/neil-gorsuch-anti-abortion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4705897/neil-gorsuch-anti-abortion/"},"headline":"Neil Gorsuch Will Strengthen the Fight Against Abortion Rights","datePublished":"2017-03-20T19:49:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:54:52.471Z","description":"With Gorsuch, Donald Trump has fulfilled his campaign promise of 'a pro-life justice in the mold of Justice Scalia'","url":"https://time.com/4705897/neil-gorsuch-anti-abortion/","keywords":["Law","Supreme Court"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeanne Mancini","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jeanne-mancini/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/law/","name":"Law"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4705897/neil-gorsuch-anti-abortion/","name":"Neil Gorsuch Will Strengthen the Fight Against Abortion Rights"}}]}] ```