Chicago (AP) – What we call abortion “bargain practice.” Another called himself the “fanatic” of the anti-abortion movement. Some have played a prominent role in defending state abortion restrictions in courts and in cases where national influences include access to and access. Medication abortion.
President Donald Trump pushes the Senate to confirm him Federal Judicial Candidate, A review by the Associated Press shows that about half of them reveal their anti-abortion views and are associated with anti-abortion groups or defensive abortion restrictions.
Trump offered Shift position On this issue, he wants to leave abortion questions in the state. However, his court nominee is in a position to roll back abortion access, long after the Republican president leaves the White House.
Bernadette Myler, a professor of constitutional law at Stanford University, said judicial nominations are “a way to shape abortion questions into the federal government without passing through Congress or making a big, explicit statement.”
“This is a bit of a way to hide what’s going on in the abortion field compared to laws and executive orders that can be more prominent, dramatic, and more repulsive,” she said.
Trump has a lasting impact on federal courts
Of the 17 judicial candidates so far, at least eight have claimed in Trump’s second term that they support abortion restrictions or are opposed to expanding abortion access. No such records were found in the other nine, and the AP review found no evidence that any of Trump’s judicial candidates had increased access to abortion.
“All candidates for the President represent his promise to the American people and are consistent with the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields said. He said in a statement referring to the 2022 decision to overturn the constitutional rights of abortion established in Wade. “The Democrats’ extreme stance on abortion was rejected in November in favor of President Trump’s common sense approach, which will determine the nation, support the sanctity of human life, and prevent taxpayers’ funding for abortion.”
Trump’s first term also had a lasting impact on the court and appointed him. 234 judges. By the end of that semester, more than a quarter of active federal judges had been appointed to Trump, including three Supreme Court judges who had been overturned. Roev. Wade.
Challenging abortion care, medication, planned parent-child relationships
In his second term, all but five of his 17 Candidate It’s from states that went to Trump in 2024, and states where Republicans are pushing for serious abortion restrictions. Among them, four candidates are from Missouri and five are from Florida.
Let’s take a look at candidates who have tried to reduce access to abortion or have advocated restrictions. They did not respond to requests for comment:
– Whitney Hermandorfer, Confirmed She has built many of her relatively short career as an attorney challenging former President Joe Biden’s policies relating to abortion and transgender rights. she challenged federal law Employers require workers to provide reasonable accommodations for abortion care. It also calls for TitleX regulations that require providers receiving funds through the program to provide patients with information about abortion.
Hermandorfer He defended Tennessee’s abortion banOne of the toughest in the country, in court, attempting to dismiss the case from a doctor. I’m looking for clarification Regarding exemptions from prohibitions. she I said Abortion deserves special scrutiny, as “it is the only medical procedure that will end your life.”
– Missouri District Court nominee Maria Lanahan helped write the state complaint in a lawsuit that wiped out national impacts on access to medication abortion. The case challenged the FDA approval of abortion pyrumifepristone despite decades of evidence indicating that there is a drug. It’s safe and effective.
lawyer support Missouri’s efforts to defend state Medicaid funding planning parents and state abortion ban after a group of clergy I suedclaiming that it violated the state constitution’s protections for religious freedom.
– Jordan Pratt, a US District Court candidate for the Central District of Florida, called abortion “wild practices” and “one of the most serious invasions imaginable.” Amikos Brief We will support Florida’s 15-week abortion ban. Now state Prohibit the procedure In 6 weeks.
2025, Pratt I hit it A Florida law that created a judicial exemption program for minors seeking abortion without parental consent. The lawyers also worked for Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization that opposed abortion and sued to reverse Mifepristone’s FDA approval.
– John Guard was also nominated to fill out the same district; I defended Florida’s then-15-week abortion ban has been banned in court as the state’s top deputy attorney general.
– Joshua Divine, the Missouri assistant attorney appointed as a district judge for the state, represents Missouri in cases challenging Mifepristone’s FDA approval. God co-authored the lawsuit. This includes misinformation about drug abortion.
In him University newspaperGod described himself as a “Ardent” Due to the anti-abortion movement, abortion was called “the murder of an innocent and genetically unique human being,” claiming that life begins with fertilization.
He also took a prominent role in the state’s fight for abortion rights after Missouri voters approved amendments to abortion rights in 2024. The amendment did not immediately override state law. that I left it to you Abortion groups ask the courts to overturn abortion restrictions. During the subsequent legal battle, God represented the nation in defending many abortion restrictions.
– Chad Meredith, Trump candidate He was the state’s assistant counsel in defending the state’s abortion ban and other restrictions in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. It included legislation that required doctors to perform ultrasound and explain images to abortion patients.
– Bill Mercer, a Republican state legislator in Montana, has been appointed to the state’s US District Court decision and has repeatedly supported the anti-abortion bill. These include those who attempted to ban abortions 20 weeks after pregnancy. Abortion patients require a 24-hour waiting period and essential ultrasound. Parental notice is required to receive abortion from minors. Prohibits the use of national funds for abortion. It prohibits certain insurance contracts from covering abortion. It also limits what types of medical professionals can distribute medication abortions.
– Jennifer Mascot, a lawyer at the White House Lawyer’s office and Trump candidate for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, spoke repeatedly about the abortion laws in interviews with the panel.
The Supreme Court is Roev. After overturning Wade’s mascot In an interview with “Fox NewsLive” He opposed the argument that the decision undermined the court’s legitimacy. She said the issue of abortion was “more appropriately determined” by the state.
Anti-abortion groups are optimistic based on Trump’s early candidates
The anti-abortion group said it is too early to draw broad conclusions on whether candidates will help implement policy goals, but is optimistic based on the names they have seen so far.
“We look forward to the reduction of candidates for another four years from that mold,” said Katie Glenn Daniel, legal director at SBA Pro-Life America, a national anti-abortion organization.
Christie Hamrick, a spokesman for lifelong students, said he hopes the administration will continue to be “people who respect the rule of law.”
Abortion rights advocates said Trump is embedding abortion enemies into one of the judiciary at once.
National Tim Maraj, president of Reproductive Freedom, a National Abortion Rights Group, has previously said the court is an effective option for supporters, primarily for challenging the prohibition and restrictions on abortion in the state.
“This is just feeding this big strategy that Trump has separated from abortion, and at the same time, he says he will appoint anti-abortion anti-extremists at all levels of government and at the same time entrusting it,” she said.
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Associated Press Writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.
