President Donald Trump pushes the Senate to confirm his federal judicial nominees, nearly half of them have revealed anti-abortion views or defended state abortion restrictions, raising concerns about the long-term impact on abortion access in the US.
Several nominees have played key roles in defending abortion bans and challenging access to medication abortion. Among them are judges who have described abortion as a “barbaric practice” and called themselves “zealots” for the anti-abortion cause.
Though Trump has publicly said abortion should be left to the states, his lifetime-appointed judicial picks could influence abortion laws nationwide for decades.
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Bernadette Meyler, a constitutional law professor at Stanford University, said judicial appointments are a way to shape abortion policy federally “without going through Congress or making a big, explicit statement.”
In Trump’s second term, of the 17 judicial nominees, at least eight have argued for abortion restrictions. Many come from states with strict abortion laws such as Missouri and Florida.
Notable nominees include Whitney Hermandorfer, who defended Tennessee’s near-total abortion ban; Maria Lanahan, involved in challenging FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone in Missouri; and Jordan Pratt, who called abortion a “barbaric practice” and supported Florida’s 15-week abortion ban.
Other nominees have defended parental consent laws, ultrasound requirements, and efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.
The White House defended the nominees, citing the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and emphasized states’ rights to decide abortion policy.
Anti-abortion groups expressed optimism about the nominations, while abortion rights advocates warn Trump is embedding anti-abortion extremists throughout the judiciary, threatening access to abortion nationwide.
Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All, said Trump’s approach “feeds into this larger strategy” of distancing himself publicly from abortion while appointing hardline judges.