President Donald Trump Set to Announce His “Exceptional” Supreme Court Nominee Today

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 9, 2018   |   11:00AM   |   Washington, DC

President Donald Trump is set to announce his Supreme Court nominee today to replace retiring pro-abortion Justice Anthony Kennedy.

The next justice could could provide the pro-life movement with an opportunity to reverse Roe v. Wade and once again allow states to pass legal protections for unborn children. At minimum, a replacement for Kennedy could move the court in a pro-life directions towards upholding the kinds of pro-life legislation saving unborn babies from abortion that Justice Kennedy joined the court’s abortion advocates in overturning.

Kennedy sometimes sided with pro-life advocates on upholding key pro-life limits on abortion but he continually upheld Roe v. Wade and its allowance for virtually unlimited abortions throughout pregnancy.A nomination for his replacement will set into motion a massive battle to replace him with a justice who would uphold the rule of law and potentially pave the way for reversing the most horrific Supreme Court decision in history.

Today, President Trump said he looks forward to naming Kennedy’s replacement.

“We are close to making a decision,” Trump told reporters late on Sunday. The choice was down to four people, he said, adding that “you can’t go wrong” with any of them.

“I’ll be deciding tonight or tomorrow sometime by 12 o’clock,” he said.

In a later tweet he said he was looking forward to the Monday night announcement of his “exceptional” pick.

Trump is expected to name one of three federal judges as the next Supreme Court justice: Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge and Amy Coney Barrett.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh sits on the DC Circuit Court. That is the main federal appeals court — often considered a stepping stone to the Supreme Court as it hears some of the most prominent cases, including ones filed against federal legislation like Obamacare.

Kavanaugh worked as associate counsel to pro-life President George W. Bush and he came out of the era of Reagan judicial appointees. His rulings have been said to be more like Scalia than Kennedy, however. Sarah Pitlyk, a former law clerk to Judge Kavanaugh and special counsel for the Thomas More Society, which is a leading pro-life legal group, says Kavanaugh has an excellent record and perhaps the best record of any of the finalists president Trump is considering.

A justice on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Judge Kethledge has received praise from conservative and pro-life groups for his judicial restraint and textualist approach to the law. He previously worked for U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham while the former pro-life senator advocated for a law to ban abortions – a point Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer used to attack the possible nominee as someone who would overturn Roe.

Former Sen. Abraham praised Kethledge in a piece for National Review last week. He said the Michigan justice is not a “soft-handed Ivy League establishment type,” but a courageous, principled and blunt judge who believes strongly in the Constitution.

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Although conservative and pro-life organizations have praised the judges on President Trump’s list, pro-life groups have been rallying around Judge Amy Coney Barrett. They say she represents the best potential pick President Trump can make to put a conservative jurist on the Supreme Court who will respect the rule of law and not make up laws from the bench. They also appreciate her strong pro-life views and believe adding a pro-life woman to the Supreme Court will help counterbalance the pro-abortion women who are currently votes to keep Roe v Wade and its allowance for unlimited abortions in place.

Leading pro-life advocates emailed LifeNews today to explain why they like Barrett.

“I must admit to having a preference, among the 25 well-qualified names the President has listed, for Judge Amy Coney Barrett. This extraordinarily talented woman has served on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals since last year,” pro-life former presidential candidate Gary Bauer said. “She took her law degree from the University of Notre Dame and clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia. She was executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. When she was nominated for the Circuit Court last, year, the entire law school faculty at Notre Dame, a wide spectrum of individuals and judicial philosophies, endorsed her.”

Since 1973, pro-life people have been yearning for the day that a majority pro-life Supreme Court would overturn Roe v Wade. Although the high court has been closely divided over the years it has always stayed at least one vote on the pro-abortion side.

Although Kennedy was expected to be like the other Republican-appointed members of the Supreme Court, he has wandered away from the pro-life position on abortion and confirmed Roe vs. Wade. Generally, he has sided with the pro-abortion justices on abortion cases, as he did when the court struck down a Texas abortion clinic regulations law. However, he has sided with pro-life justices on a few occasions, including his decision to uphold the partial-birth abortion ban in 2007.

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Trump promised to nominate “pro-life” justices to the high court, and Kennedy’s retirement could mean a pro-life justice would fill his spot and swing the court toward life-affirming decisions.

“Justice Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court marks a pivotal moment for the fight to ensure every unborn child is welcomed and protected under the law,” said Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) president Marjorie Dannenfelser. “The most important commitment that President Trump has made to the pro-life movement has been his promise to nominate only pro-life judges to the Supreme Court, a commitment he honored by swiftly nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch. President Trump now has another crucial opportunity to restore respect for life and the Constitution. We trust him to follow through on his promise.”

Abortion advocates understand the monumental consequences of what is at stake. People for the American Way, described Kennedy’s possible retirement under Trump as a “disaster for the rights of all Americans.”

Several other liberal justices on the high court also are getting older. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 84, and Justice Stephen Breyer is 78. Both are strongly pro-abortion, but there are no rumors of their retirement right now.