Trump anti-abortion Supreme Court pick ‘not acceptable’, says Republican senator
Susan Collins says a woman’s right to have an abortion is ‘a fundamental tenet’ of the US judicial system
“A candidate for this important position who would overturn Roe v Wade would not be acceptable to me because that would indicate an activist agenda that I don’t want to see a judge have,” Republican senator Susan Collins told ABC’s This Week, referring to the 1973 court decision protecting abortion rights.
Trump, however, said on Sunday the abortion issue could be returned to the states, suggesting that a future court could overturn the federal abortion rights protections created by Roe.
“We’ll see what happens but it could very well happen with the states at some point,” Trump told Fox Business, repeating a view he expressed soon after his election.
The president has said he will announce his pick to fill the seat of retiring justice Anthony Kennedy on July 9. He was due to begin interviewing candidates from an existing 25-strong list this weekend, from his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey.
