Andy Schlafly, president of the Legal Center for Defense of Life and son of the late conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, plans to send a letter to President-elect Donald Trump by the end of the week that is co-signed by nearly 70 pro-life groups.
They’re expressing concerns that Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee may not be an individual with a pro-life record.
Schlafly, an attorney for the Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund as well as general counsel for the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons, organized a coalition of pro-life individuals and groups who are researching the 21 judges on Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees, which was constructed by The Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society.
“There are many people on the list that was given to Trump who would not overturn Roe v. Wade,” Schlafly previously told Breitbart News. “It’s known. It’s obvious, just a little bit of research proves it.”
During the final presidential debate, Trump said he would nominate a pro-life individual to the Supreme Court and he also promised to pick from the list of 21 judges for his nomination during the campaign, saying, “This list is definitive…and I will choose only from it in picking future justices of the Supreme Court.”
“I am putting pro-life justices on the court. I will say this: It [the abortion issue] will go back to the states, and the states will then make a determination,” Trump declared in response to a debate question on Roe v. Wade.
Schlafly says there are six judges in particular on Trump’s list that he believes do not have pro-life records. Those six judges are: Judges Diane Sykes, Raymond Kethledge, Steven Collation, Justices Joan Larson and Allison Eid, as well as Neil Gorsuch.
When Schlafly first spoke to Breitbart News roughly one week ago, he had 13 pro-life groups and individuals signed on to his coalition letter. However, as of Monday, there are nearly 70 co-signers.
“They’re concerned about the same people, but they’re enthusiastic that this is something we need to do — to veto the unacceptable people — so we don’t get another David Souter or Anthony Kennedy,” Schlaffly told Breitbart News on Friday about the support that has grown from people expressing concern about the next Supreme Court justice.
He recalled Souter being portrayed as a pro-life justice when he was nominated, but according to Schlafly, Souter ruled nearly every time in favor of the pro-choice side.
“That’s what appears to be developing again now unless we speak out against it,” he stressed, adding that he plans to formally send the letter to the President-elect later this week.
Richard Maggi, a lawyer who also works with Schlafly, explained he also wants to make sure the next justice is someone who is going to override Roe v. Wade.
“We need people who … clearly profess to be pro-life,” Maggi stressed, also adding that he has no problem if Trump sways away from the list of 21 judges, which he promised to pick a Supreme Court nominee from, as long as the nominee has a pro-life record.
“As long as the person is clearly on the record for overturning Roe…I have no problem, but what I don’t want to have is someone that is not on that list and we know nothing about,” Maggi explained.
Schlafly and his team are not the only ones researching Trump’s potential Supreme Court nominee.
Concerned Women for America (CWA), the largest public policy organization for women based on Biblical principles, is also doing its own research.
“CWA is currently still in the process of thoroughly vetting all the names of President elect Trump’s lists but we are generally excited about the direction he has chosen to go,” CWA’s legal counsel Mario Diaz told Breitbart News on Monday. “The names in general represent a return to constitutional principles that we believe are essential for justice to flourish once again. Any final determination of individual candidates however will be made at a future date.”
Diaz added that CWA is not signing on to Schlafly’s coalition letter.
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