With the upcoming retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, many expect Trump to nominate a conservative replacement. As the Senate is largely conservative Republican, Trump should have no problem appointing his nominee.
The new Justice will bring the court to a 5-4 conservative majority. That should be good news for conservatives. But the issues are more complex than a single High Court ruling.
Ramifications of a Conservative Court
One of the largest debates between conservatives and liberals is the question of abortion. At first glance, it would seem easy for a conservative Court to make abortion illegal. But that’s not the case.
In the 1970’s, the Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that states must allow women to have abortions until the third trimester. It essentially made abortion legal until the point of fetal viability. If the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, the right to decide would fall back on individual states.
Jerry Falwell, founder of Liberty University, said he would expect only 20 states to make abortion illegal. For the evangelicals and conservatives to have a clear win, the Court would need to make abortion illegal. That is a much loftier, and harder to achieve goal.
