Roe vs Wade: How betting on Trump paid off for US anti-abortion supporters

The former president’s judiciary nominations have led the Christian right to its holy grail – the Supreme Court ending the nationwide right to abortion

Experts say with the relative youth of his three top court appointees, Trump will likely have a lasting legacy on the federal bench for years to come

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Former US president Donald Trump. Photo: AP

Published: 12:30pm, 25 Jun 2022

When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, some evangelical Christians held their noses over his louche lifestyle and manners in a belief he would be a champion on their key battlefield – the judiciary.

Their bet paid off. Trump is no longer in power but his nominations have led America’s Christian right to its holy grail – the Supreme Court ending the nationwide right to abortion.

If there is one point of unanimity among Trump’s supporters and critics both inside and outside the Republican Party, it is that reshaping the judiciary will be one of his most lasting legacies.

Trump over his four-year term was able to nominate three justices, or one-third, of the Supreme Court – all of whom sided with the majority Friday in striking down the 1973 Roe vs Wade decision.

Trump – who in 1999, as a celebrity property developer flirting with politics, called himself “very pro-choice” – said in a statement that the historic ruling was “only made possible because I delivered everything as promised.”