Donald Trump has nominated Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, to replace Antonin Scalia as the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Trump had also been considering Thomas Hardimann, a federal appeals court judge in Pennsylvania, and U.S. Circuit Judge William H. Pryor, Jr. from Alabama. Tonight, Trump announced that Gorsuch was his choice.
Gorsuch is the youngest Supreme Court nominee in over 20 years, at 49, and would be the youngest justice on the Supreme Court, but conservatives believe his education and experience make him a good choice. Gorsuch has degrees from Columbia, Harvard and Oxford, served as a deputy associate attorney general at the Department of Justice, and clerked for two Supreme Court Justice (Byron White and Anthony Kennedy).
It is believed that Gorsuch would be a conservative voice on the Supreme Court, but more importantly to pro-lifers is whether or not Gorsuch would be an advocate for life. Gorsuch is considered to be an originalist, committed to the original meaning of the Constitution. And while Gorsuch has not written many opinions on abortion, he stood behind Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor in their suits against the Obama Administration’s contraception mandate, and also backed Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.
What Gorsuch has been vocal about is his opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia. In the book, Gorsuch argues for the “intrinsic value of human life, and its correlation to equal treatment under the law” and for laws to continue banning assisted suicide. “To act intentionally against life is to suggest that its value rests only on its transient instrumental usefulness for other ends,” Gorsuch wrote in his book, The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia.
For a more in-depth analysis of Gorsuch’s views and writings, see Live Action News’ article by Calvin Freiburger.
While only time will tell, Gorsuch appears to be a solidly pro-life judge, and is someone that the pro-life movement can be optimistic about moving forward.
