In a set back for the pro-life movement, the Supreme Court released a 5-3 ruling Monday that safety regulations passed into law by the state of Texas represented “a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an ‘undue burden’ on their constitutional right to do so.”
The decision is one of the bigger setbacks abortion opponents have seen in recent years, but the presumptive presidential nominee for the pro-life party has not spoken out publicly about the result. Donald Trump took to Twitter Monday to bash CNN, the media, and potential Democratic VP candidate Elizabeth Warren:
In Texas, as in other states, regulations would have forced abortion providers to meet the minimum standards for ambulatory surgical centers, and physicians who perform abortions to hold admitting privileges at a local hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic.
Pro-Trump forces have argued to skeptical conservatives that the vacant seat on the Supreme Court is reason enough to support the New York businessman over Democrat Hillary Clinton. While the late justice Antonin Scalia’s vote would not have changed the outcome of the Texas case, the result nevertheless offers Trump the perfect opportunity to make his case—Especially in light of his many contradictions on the issue of abortion and his longstanding history of being pro-choice.
Instead, Trump’s campaign did, however, according to Bloomberg reach out “directly to Christian leaders in the aftermath the Supreme Court’s overturning of Texas abortion laws on Monday, while deciding against releasing official statements or social media postings.”
The campaign’s “Executive Evangelical Advisory Board” did, however, release a statement of its own.
“In an unprecedented meeting last week with American Christian leaders, Donald J. Trump promised to only appoint pro-life justices,” the board’s statement said. “We commend him and pray that the tragedy of today’s ruling will not be repeated in subsequent administrations.”
Millions of pro-life Trump skeptics are left wondering how serious Donald Trump is about both the courts and abortion.
