--- title: Donald Trump Says Abortion Rights Could Be Left Up to States description: President Donald Trump vowed to appoint a conservative to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy. canonical: https://time.com/5327586/president-trump-says-abortion-laws-could-be-left-up-to-states-at-some-point/ author: Alix Langone article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-01T17:13:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:32:53.683Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Says Abortion Could Be Left Up to States 'at Some Point' og:description: He said he "probably" won't ask Supreme Court picks their views on Roe v. Wade og:url: https://time.com/5327586/president-trump-says-abortion-laws-could-be-left-up-to-states-at-some-point/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3473582504db377/69893462cf40a86a04c4c9f9/trump-fox-interview-abortion-rights.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: trump-fox-interview-abortion-rights.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Says Abortion Could Be Left Up to States 'at Some Point' twitter:description: He said he "probably" won't ask Supreme Court picks their views on Roe v. Wade twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3473582504db377/69893462cf40a86a04c4c9f9/trump-fox-interview-abortion-rights.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says Abortion Laws Could Be Left Up to States 'at Some Point' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6ed288a2-5515-4b7c-8619-acb82c1d6a12&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Susan Collins Says She Won’t Support Supreme Court Nominee Who Demonstrates ‘Hostility to Roe v. Wade’ [Watch (HLS stream): Susan Collins Says She Won’t Support Supreme Court Nominee Who Demonstrates ‘Hostility to Roe v. Wade’](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SozblHcl.m3u8) (1:17)  _Published 2018-07-01. Susan Collins Says She Won’t Support Supreme Court Nominee Who Demonstrates ‘Hostility to Roe v. Wade’_ by [Alix Langone](https://time.com/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Jul 1, 2018 5:13 PM UTC Susan Collins Says She Won’t Support Supreme Court Nominee Who Demonstrates ‘Hostility to Roe v. Wade’ by [Alix Langone](https://time.com/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Jul 1, 2018 5:13 PM UTC President Donald Trump acknowledged that the status of _Roe v. Wade_ is one of the key issues in the public’s mind as he nominates a [replacement for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy](http://time.com/5325386/donald-trump-supreme-court-influence/) – and said abortion rights could be left up to the states “at some point.” In an interview with [Fox News host Maria Bartiromo](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/01/trump-speaks-to-scotus-pick-dems-push-to-end-ice-in-exclusive-fox-news-interview.html) that aired Sunday, Trump said he “probably” wouldn’t ask potential nominees about their stance on _Roe v. Wade_, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion across America. He said he had been advised not to. However, he vowed, “but I’m putting conservative people on.” When asked whether abortion rights could be left up to the states – something that would require [_Roe v. Wade_ to be overturned](http://time.com/5325124/justice-anthony-kennedy-supreme-court-roe-v-wade-overturned/) – Trump said: “Maybe some day it will be to the states, you never know how that’s going to turn out. That’s a very complex question. “The _Roe v. Wade_ is probably the one that people are talking about in terms of having an effect. But we’ll see what happens, but it could very well end up with states at some point.” [Abortion rights supporters and opponents alike](http://time.com/5323890/anthony-kennedy-retirement-abortion-rights/) believe the retirement of Kennedy – a swing vote on the court who has consistently upheld the _Roe v. Wade_ precedent – could mark a turning point for the case. If the ruling were overturned, states could potentially opt to ban abortion entirely or place even greater restrictions on access. The interview touched on many other hot button political issues, including the controversial policies U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is helping to enforce at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Trump brought up Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who [he previously said on Twitter](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1011295779422695424?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) has threatened his supporters, saying he thinks Democrats will “get beaten so badly” in upcoming elections because some party leaders are calling for the abolishment of ICE. “All \[abolishing ICE is\] going to do is lead to massive, massive crime,” he said. “That’s going to be their platform, open borders which equals crime. I think they’ll never win another election. So I’m actually quite happy about it.” Bartiromo also asked Trump about [his reaction to Harley Davidson’s announcement](http://time.com/5322066/donald-trump-threatens-harley-davidson-twitter/) that it cannot afford to continue manufacturing all of its motorcycles in this country. The company claimed retaliatory tariffs being imposed on the U.S. by the European Union due to Trump’s trade war make it too expensive. “I think that Harley is an American bike. It’s an American motorcycle and they should build them in this country,” the president said. “I guarantee you everybody that ever bought a Harley Davidson voted for Trump… and they’re very unhappy about it.” You can watch the full interview here: ## Transcript There's a big difference between overturning some presidents such as [ INAUDIBLE ] versus Ferguson which was overturned in the school segregation case in Brown versus the Board of Education. Versus overturning. a ruling that has been set off law for forty six years, forty five years. And it involves a constitutional right and has been reaffirmed by the court twenty six years ago. Indeed, just as Roberts has made very clear that he considers Roe v. Wade to be settled law. I would not support a nominee who demonstrated hostility to Roe v. Wade because that would mean to me that their judicial philosophy did not include a respect for established decisions, established law And I believe that that is a very important fundamental tenant of our judicial system which as Chief Justice Roberts says, helps to promote stability and even handedness. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5327586/president-trump-says-abortion-laws-could-be-left-up-to-states-at-some-point/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5327586/president-trump-says-abortion-laws-could-be-left-up-to-states-at-some-point/"},"headline":"President Trump Says Abortion Laws Could Be Left Up to States 'at Some Point'","datePublished":"2018-07-01T17:13:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T09:32:53.683Z","description":"Trump said he \"probably\" won't ask Supreme Court picks their views on Roe v. 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