Evangelical leaders temper glee over possible Roe reversal
NEW YORK — For evangelical Christian leaders like Jerry Falwell Jr., this is their political holy grail.
Like many religious conservatives in a position to know, the Liberty University president with close ties to the White House suspects that the Supreme Court vacancy President Donald Trump fills in the coming months will ultimately lead to the reversal of the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade. But instead of celebrating publicly, some evangelical leaders are downplaying their fortune on an issue that has defined their movement for decades.
“What people don’t understand is that if you overturn Roe v. Wade, all that does is give the states the right to decide whether abortion is legal or illegal,” Falwell said. “My guess is that there’d probably be less than 20 states that would make abortion illegal if given that right.”
Falwell added: “In the ‘70s, I don’t know how many states had abortion illegal before Roe v. Wade, but it won’t be near as many this time.”
The sentiment, echoed by evangelical leaders across the country, underscores the delicate politics that surround a moment many religious conservatives have longed for. With the retirement of swing-vote Justice Anthony Kennedy, Trump and his GOP allies in the Senate plan to install a conservative justice who could redefine the law on some of the nation’s most-explosive policy debates — none bigger than abortion.
“There is a high level of confidence within the community that overturning Roe is actually, finally possible,” said Johnnie Moore, President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd as he joins Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. at spring 2017 commencement ceremonies at the college in Lynchburg, Va. a Southern Baptist minister who was a co-chairman of the Trump campaign’s evangelical advisory board. He added: “Evangelicals have never been more confident in the future of America than they are now.”
But social conservatives risk a powerful backlash from their opponents if they cheer too loudly. Women’s groups already have raised the alarm for their constituents, particularly suburban women, who could play an outsized role in the fight for the House majority this November.
Two-thirds of Americans do not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, according to a poll released Friday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Among women of reproductive age, three out of four want the high court ruling left alone. The poll was conducted before Kennedy’s retirement.
“The left is going to try very hard to say this is all about overturning Roe,” Moore said. The moresignificant shift on the high court, he said, would likely be the help given to conservatives in their fight for what they call religious freedom.
Tony Perkins, who leads the socially conservative Family Research Council, said abortion is simply “a factor” in evangelicals’ excitement over a moreconservative court. Perkins agreed with Moore that the broader push for religious freedom is a bigger focus.
Many evangelicals, for example, have lashed out against Obama-era laws that required churches and other religious institutions to provide their women employees with reproductive services. Others have rallied behind private business owners who faced legal repercussions after denying services to gay people.
Despite Trump’s struggles with Christian values in his personal life, Christians lined up behind him in 2016, and his standing with white evangelical Christians hit a high in April when 75 percent of evangelicals held a favorable view of him, according to a Public Religion Research Institute poll.
The unlikely marriage between the thrice-married president and Christian conservatives has always been focused on Trump’s ability to reshape the judicial branch.