Thank Donald Trump for the demise of Roe v. Wade
Overturning Roe v. Wade has been the overarching, seemingly impossible goal of the pro-life movement for almost five decades. Now that it has finally been achieved, four words should be on the lips of every pro-life conservative today: Thank you, Donald Trump.
Every Republican president before Trump failed miserably when it came to Supreme Court picks. In 1970, Richard M. Nixon nominated Harry A. Blackmun, who would author Roe. Gerald Ford picked only one justice, John Paul Stevens, who became the leader of the court’s liberal bloc. Ronald Reagan had three appointees (Sandra Day O’connor, Antonin Scalia and Anthony M. Kennedy), but only Scalia was a consistent conservative vote. George H.W. Bush named one brilliant conservative (Clarence Thomas) and one catastrophic liberal (David Souter). George W. Bush selected Samuel A. Alito Jr., a marvelous conservative intellect who wrote the decision overturning Roe. But Bush also gave us John G. Roberts Jr., who promised to be an impartial umpire but instead has repeatedly legislated from the bench — siding with the court’s liberal bloc on a string of cases.
But Trump broke the mold. His nominations of Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett have made him the only Republican president in six decades to have a perfect record in appointing judicial conservatives. His picks have transformed the court: With Gorsuch, he saved its conservative majority. With Kavanaugh, he moved the court to the right by replacing a swing vote, Kennedy, with a reliable conservative. And with Barrett, he gave the conservative bloc the five votes they need to prevail without the chief justice.
No doubt, Roberts would have found some Solomonic middle way to uphold Mississippi’s abortion law without overturning Roe and the 1992 case that upheld it, Planned Parenthood v. Casey. But thanks to Trump, Roberts was powerless. All three Trump appointees voted to strike down Roe and Casey — declaring that, like Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 case that upheld racial segregation), these decisions were so egregiously wrong that they had to be overturned.
Trump’s appointments have effectively turned the Roberts Court into the Thomas Court. Whenever Roberts votes with the liberal bloc, Thomas — as the most senior associate justice — gets to assign the majority opinion. In Dobbs, he gave that responsibility to Alito, with brilliant effect.
Democrats have a virtually perfect record in Supreme Court appointments. Their justices never defect to the conservative bloc. Not so for Republicans — until Trump. And his perfect record will transform the court’s jurisprudence for a generation.
Trump not only gave us a conservative court majority, he also saved us. Had Hillary Clinton won the 2016 presidential election, she would have nominated a judicial activist to replace Scalia, creating a 5-to-4 liberal majority. Then she would have replaced Ruth Bader Ginsburg and perhaps Stephen G. Breyer, securing those seats for the liberal bloc for decades.
No, this doesn’t forgive Trump’s behavior after the 2020 election. But knowing what I know now, am I grateful for Trump’s four years in office? You bet. Millions of unborn lives will be saved. And Trump made it possible.
Whatever else history says, Trump has secured his place as the most consequential president when it comes to the Supreme Court — and our greatest pro-life president.