Neil Gorsuch Responds to Question About Abortion
During his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Neil Gorsuch - Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee - was asked if Trump ever asked him to overrule Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case that essentially legalized abortion nationwide. Responding to the question from Senator Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina), Gorsuch made it clear that Trump never asked him such a thing.
Graham asked if Gorsuch had met Trump before their interview, and Gorsuch clarified the two had not met in person until that day. Gorsuch testified that Trump never asked him to overrule Roe v. Wade in the interview, and Graham followed up to ask what Gorsuch would have done, had Trump asked.
"Senator, I would have walked out the door," Gorsuch said. "It's not what judges do. They don't do it at that end of Pennsylvania Ave. and they shouldn't do it at this end either, respectfully."
Tuesday's hearing doesn't mark the only time Gorsuch, who would fill a Supreme Court seat left empty by former Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, has been asked about his stance on Roe. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley asked Gorsuch about the decision as well, wanting to know if Gorsuch thought Roe v. Wade was decided correctly.
"Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, is a precedent of the United States Supreme Court," Gorsuch said. "It’s been reaffirmed."
While Gorsuch's record as a federal judge on abortion cases is sparse, critics of the Supreme Court nominee have pointed to his opinions on the 2014 Hobby Lobby ruling as being indicative of anti-abortion and anti-contraception leanings. Gorsuch's Senate hearing continued throughout Tuesday.
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