Reading Between The Lines, Anti-Abortion Movement Celebrates Trump’s Supreme Court Pick
Although Neil Gorsuch has little history on abortion, he has written extensively on “inherently valuable” human life and sided against the health law's contraception mandate by calling out a provision that would require the objecting businesses to “underwrite payments for drugs or devices that can have the effect of destroying a fertilized human egg.”
The Associated Press:
Trump Taps Conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court
President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, a fast-rising conservative judge with a writer's flair, to the Supreme Court Tuesday night, setting up a fierce fight with Democrats over a jurist who could shape America's legal landscape for decades to come. (Pace and Sherman, 1/31)
Reuters:
Trump's Supreme Court Nominee Questions Power Of Administrative Agencies
Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch is known for questioning how far courts should go in deferring to federal agencies on interpreting the law, a view that could be important for U.S. companies and, perhaps, for President Donald Trump. (Chung and Hurley, 1/31)
The Associated Press:
Conservative Gorsuch Emulates Scalia Minus The Rough Edges
If confirmed by the Senate to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch would fill the seat of the man he seeks to emulate as a judge. He would be the first justice to serve alongside a colleague for whom he worked. Gorsuch described his former boss, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Tuesday as one of the judges who brought him up in the law. ... While abortion rights groups immediately criticized the nomination, Rosen said Gorsuch's record on the issue is sparse. In a book Gorsuch wrote laying out the case against assisted suicide and euthanasia, Rosen said, Gorsuch was careful to avoid making a religious case for his views, focusing instead on philosophy. "He has been careful not to say what he thinks about abortion or marriage equality," Rosen said. (Sherman, 2/1)
The Washington Post:
Trump Picks Colo. Appeals Court Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court
Gorsuch has not ruled on abortion. But activists on both sides of the issue believe they know where he stands. They point to language in his book “The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia,” in which he opines that “all human beings are intrinsically valuable and the intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong.” Additionally, his rulings on behalf of those who challenged the Obamacare mandate that employee insurance coverage provide all approved contraceptives seemed instructive. He noted the provision would require the objecting businesses to “underwrite payments for drugs or devices that can have the effect of destroying a fertilized human egg.” (Barnes, 1/31)
Los Angeles Times:
Neil Gorsuch Could Fall Somewhere Between His Hero, Justice Scalia, And Former Boss, Centrist Justice Kennedy
If Gorsuch replaces Scalia, a fierce critic of Roe vs. Wade and a reliable conservative vote, it would likely preserve the court’s previous ideological balance, with Kennedy holding the deciding vote in the most divisive cases. The real tipping point on the court could come if Kennedy or Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer depart, giving conservatives, including the court’s conservatives, an opportunity to overturn the abortion right and other liberal precedents. (Savage, 1/31)
Politico:
Gorsuch Pick Affirms Trump Vow To Pick 'Pro-Life' Justice
The choice of Gorsuch for the Supreme Court was immediately praised by anti-abortion groups and chastised by supporters of abortion rights. “President Trump has kept his promise to nominate only pro-life judges to the Supreme Court,” Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. “Judge Gorsuch is a distinguished jurist with a strong record of protecting life and religious liberty, as evidenced by his opinions in the Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor cases, and in his doctoral dissertation in which he wrote that ‘human life is fundamentally and inherently valuable.’” House Speaker Paul Ryan called him a "phenomenal nominee" in part because of his "strong commitment to life." (Haberkorn, 1/31)
Stat:
Trump's Supreme Court Pick Neil Gorsuch Deeply Opposes Assisted Suicide
President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee is a constitutional originalist who opposes all forms of assisted suicide and ruled twice against the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate but has never ruled on abortion. Trump announced the nomination of Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday night, kicking off what Democrats have said will be a contentious confirmation process to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia. Gorsuch is currently serving on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which holds jurisdiction over six western states. (Facher, 1/31)
