{"id":90520,"date":"2016-03-24T09:43:58","date_gmt":"2016-03-24T13:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=90520"},"modified":"2016-03-24T08:28:10","modified_gmt":"2016-03-24T12:28:10","slug":"trump-might-need-some-help-choosing-terrific-judges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trump-might-need-some-help-choosing-terrific-judges\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump might need some help choosing “terrific” judges"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As of now, Donald Trump is the GOP\u2019s leading presidential contender. What could pro-lifers expect from his administration? I don’t know. I’m not sure he does either.<\/p>\n

Trump says he\u2019s \u201cvery\u201d pro-life. After hearing his comments in an interview last year, I thought of a scene from The Princess Bride<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Rebecca

Rebecca Kiessling<\/p><\/div>\n

Trump told<\/a> BloombergNews’\u00a0Mark Halperin that he was against abortion except in cases like rape and incest. According to him, they’re \u201cthe caveats\u201d that \u201cyou have to have.\u201d Pro-life activist Rebecca Kiessling<\/a> knows otherwise. Rebecca was conceived in rape back when abortion was illegal, and she\u2019s only alive today because the law didn’t make those exceptions.<\/p>\n

Further, Trump didn\u2019t always identify as \u201cvery strong on pro-life,\u201d having once insisted that he was \u201cvery pro-choice<\/a>.\u201d It\u2019s true that leaders like President Reagan<\/a> also changed their stance on abortion, but it was often after carefully studying the issue, something Trump appears not to have done: during a 2011 interview<\/a>, he seemed unaware that Roe v. Wade<\/i>\u00a0and subsequent cases hinged on the right of privacy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And that raises an important concern for pro-lifers. There are many ways a president can help protect innocent life, like fighting to defund<\/a> Planned Parenthood (a group Trump has praised<\/a>). However, one of the most crucial is via judicial appointments. Trump hasn\u2019t said much about who he\u2019d like to see on the Supreme Court; what he has<\/i> said isn\u2019t comforting.<\/p>\n

\"Judge

Judge Maryanne Trump Barry (via birtherreport.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

When he was asked about his sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, the candidate described her as \u201cfantastic\u201d and said she would make a \u201cphenomenal\u201d Supreme Court justice. That she voted to strike down<\/a> a ban on partial-birth abortion went unmentioned.<\/p>\n

Trump later claimed that those remarks about his sister were a joke<\/a>, instead suggesting that he might nominate federal judges Bill Pryor or Diane Sykes. Sykes made headlines in 2012 for helping to block<\/a> Indiana’s attempt at defunding Planned Parenthood.<\/p>\n

Trump’s promise not to nominate Judge Barry provides at least some relief. After all, given her endorsement of partial-birth abortion, it\u2019s hard to imagine she would uphold a ban on dilation and evacuation<\/a> either. A D&E is typically performed in the latter part of the second trimester, a point when research suggests that a fetus can feel pain<\/a>. In the video below, Dr. Anthony Levatino<\/a> explains how it’s done.<\/p>\n