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Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a Save America rally in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, US on May 6. Photo: Bloomberg

Donald Trump rally draws supporters of expected ruling that will end right to abortion

  • A leaked Supreme Court draft indicated it plans to overturn the ruling. More than 20 conservative-leaning states have made moves towards outlawing the practice
  • If the Supreme Court overturns the 1973 ruling that established a federal right to abortion, each US state will be free to ban or allow abortion

For the Donald Trump supporters attending a Pennsylvania rally, reports that the Supreme Court may soon end the federally protected right to abortion have been galvanising. As one man summed up the feeling, “Life is precious.”

The political shock waves of a High Court opinion – a draft of which was leaked on Monday in a very rare event – are expected to reverberate through US politics for months, especially with midterm elections set for November.

Trump himself barely touched on the subject in a rally held under torrential rains in the city of Greensburg on Friday.

People wait for former US President Donald Trump to speak at a rally in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, US on May 6. Photo: Reuters

But as he flirts more openly with the possibility of seeking a new term as president in 2024, the subject seemed to be on the lips of all his supporters.

“I am a Christian, and so Biblically, the way our world is going just does not line up,” 45-year-old Nicole Rye told Agence France-Presse.

From Florida, Rye and her husband have travelled across the United States for years attending as many Trump rallies as possible. They run a concession stand selling “Trump 2024” paraphernalia and offering a range of stickers insulting President Joe Biden in various colourful terms.

“God gives children as blessings. They are; it’s Biblically written,” Rye said.

She said she feels profoundly grateful to Trump for using his appointments to push the Supreme Court – which rules on some of the nation’s most sensitive issues – to the political right.

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With many Democrats defending abortion rights just as passionately as many Republicans reject it, the expected ruling is bound to deepen the nation’s already dramatic divisions.

The emotion evoked by the issue could be seen on Rye’s face.

“I have a past,” Rye said, tears filling her eyes. “There’s us women who have been through it.

“But you can’t. Life is life. And I firmly believe that.”

Leroy Kinnan, a 47-year-old who lives in the area, had accompanied his daughter to her first Trump rally.

“How do we know by aborting a baby that we didn’t terminate the next Einstein or a doctor who cures cancer?” he asked.

After abortion, gay marriage? Fears US court may target other rights

Kinnan said abortion is sometimes used as “a form of birth control,” adding that he firmly opposes it except in cases of rape or incest.

If the Supreme Court overturns the landmark 1973 ruling that established a federal right to abortion – as the leaked draft made clear it plans to do – each US state will be free to ban or allow abortion within its borders.

More than 20 conservative-leaning states have already taken moves toward outlawing the practice.

The court’s final ruling is expected in June or July.

A campaign badge on a jacket ahead of former US President Donald Trump’s speech in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, US on May 6. Photo: Reuters

Trump, perhaps wary about proclaiming a premature victory, barely mentioned the court’s impending ruling, saying merely, “They’re making a very big decision now.”

But the crowd of several thousands clearly knew what he meant.

The billionaire politician was in Pennsylvania to support several Republican candidates in the legislative elections in November.

Jason Killmeyer, a Republican who is running for the House of Representatives, was much more direct as he strode through the muddy fairgrounds where the rally was held, seeking support from Trump backers.

“Eight hundred thousand dead babies a year is too many,” he said, referring to a widely circulated estimate of the number of abortions in the country.

Abortion-rights protesters rally in US cities after Supreme Court leak

His language reflected the anti-abortion argument that fetuses, even in their earliest phase of development, are people.

Killmeyer promised the voters he met that he would not shy away from taking on those Democrats who favour a woman’s right to choose.

“Let’s jump into these cultural battles and no longer let the left wing set the tone and the pace of cultural engagement,” he said, promising that if elected he would work to outlaw abortion even in states that might want to allow it.

John Roan, who is 52, agreed. He and his wife have adopted six children, now aged eight to 27.

“We believe that life is precious,” said Roan.

Along with Trump, he added, he is willing to fight for his belief.

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