Pro-Life Judge

A Pro-Life Judge is one who has a presumption of a right to life for the unborn and other vulnerable members of society. The presumption can be rooted in the Declaration of Independence recognition of a right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It can also be rooted in natural law, the common law and the U.S. Constitution.

Presumptions are widely recognized in the law on other issues, such as the presumption of "innocent until proven guilty" and presumptions about the burden of proof. A pro-life presumption carries with it a tendency to rule in favor of the unborn and against abortion, and in favor of protecting other vulnerable aspects of innocent life against the State and more powerful adversaries.

A Pro-Life Judge would be willing to overturn Roe v. Wade, while a mere originalist judge may resort to stare decisis to abide by that mistaken decision.

Trump's pledge[edit]

In the third presidential debate, the following dialogue occurred between moderator Chris Wallace and Donald Trump:

Trump: ... The justices that I am going to appoint will be pro-life. ...

Wallace: Well, let’s pick up on another issue which divides you [from your opponent Hillary Clinton], and the justices that, whoever ends up winning this election appoints, could have a dramatic effect there. That's the issue of abortion. Mr. Trump, you’re pro-life. And I want to ask you specifically. Do you want the court, including the justices that you will name, to overturn Roe v. Wade, which includes, in fact, states a woman’s right to abortion?

Trump: Well, if that would happen, because I am pro-life and I will be appointing pro-life judges, I would think that would go back to the individual states.

Wallace: I’m asking you specifically would you-

Trump: If they overturned it, it would go back to the states.

Wallace: But what I’m asking you, do you want to see the court overturn it? You just said you want to see the court protect the second amendment. Do you want to see the court overturn-

Trump: If we put another two or perhaps three justices on, that is really what will happen. That will happen automatically, in my opinion, because I am putting pro-life justices on the court. I will say this. It will go back to the states, and the states will then make a determination.

Candidate Trump subsequently became President Trump, and he reiterated his pledge after he won the election in an interview with Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes:

Stahl: One of the things you’re going to obviously get an opportunity to do, is name someone to the Supreme Court. And I assume you’ll do that quickly?

Trump: Yes. Very important.

Stahl: During the campaign, you said that you would appoint justices who were against abortion rights. Will you appoint-- are you looking to appoint a justice who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade?

Trump: So, look, here’s what’s going to happen-- I’m going to-- I’m pro-life. The judges will be pro-life. They’ll be very—

Stahl: But what about overturning this law--

Trump: Well, there are a couple of things. They’ll be pro-life, they’ll be-- in terms of the whole gun situation, we know the Second Amendment and everybody’s talking about the Second Amendment and they’re trying to dice it up and change it; they’re going to be very pro-Second Amendment. But having to do with abortion, if it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states. So, it would go back to the states and--

Stahl: Yeah, but then some women won’t be able to get an abortion?

Trump: No, it’ll go back to the states.