this whole “reverse Roe v. Wade” idea is a pipe dream, anyway, and wouldn’t end abortion. The issue begins way, way before that pregnant girl walks into a Planned Parenthood clinic. It has to do with our entire culture’s attitudes towards sex, male responsibility, and relationships in general.
As far as Gorsuch is concerned, I’d say that he seems eminently qualified for the job and will probably be confirmed. He has somewhat of a record on pro-life issues, although not on abortion as such. In the end, though, I think he’ll be another John Roberts—a brilliant jurist who ended up being not so conservative after all. While he’ll do a perfectly good job, he’s not going to be the knight in shining armor. That’s my take.
The interesting thing to me, though, is that there was an openly, avowedly pro-life candidate on Trump’s shortlist of three candidates (Ta-ta-da-da! “The Celebrity Apprentice, Supreme Court Justice Edition”!): William Pryor. He had called Roe v. Wade America’s “greatest abomination.” He had a known record, therefore, on what was supposed to be the most important issue in this election for Christian conservatives. There was real opposition to his nomination from the left, of course—not surprising. What astonishes me, though, is that there was also opposition from the right. Why? Because he had a record of several decisions that were seen as pro-gay rights. So there was a backlash against him from both sides, which was almost certainly what got him dropped off.
It’s the same confusion between “ends justify the means” vs. “lesser of two evils” or “imperfect alternatives” that I talked about in a previous post. The Trump presidency is imploding, turning out to be even worse than anyone could possibly have expected, and those who voted for him won’t even be able to point to a clear pro-life win. (It will be interesting to see who is nominated for the next SCOTUS vacancy. It will also be interesting to see who’s doing the nominating. Depending on how things go for Trump this week, he may just resign in protest. We can only hope. So far Comey has roundly repudiated his “wire tapping” claim, which is his first defeat this week. The House vote on Trumpcare, now scheduled I believe for Thursday, is another potential defeat. And we’ll see if Gorsuch is confirmed, although I believe that he will be. If Trump loses in all three of these battles, his presidency will have effectively been strangled in its cradle.)
Here’s an excellent article about Pryor from back in January:
“Supreme Court Short-Lister Bill Pryor Has Been Wrongly Criticized by the Right”