Trump to attend 'March for Life' rally as Supreme Court prepares to hear case that jeopardizes Roe v Wade
President Donald Trump is set to attend the March for Life event in Washington on Friday, becoming the first president to attend the annual anti-abortion march in the country's history. Trump confirmed the news through his official Twitter account, writing: "See you on Friday... Big Crowd!" Trump was reportedly also the first president to speak at the march through a video feed in 2018, according to the president of March for Life, Jeanne Mancini. The administration has worked consistently to restrict abortion access ever since Trump assumed office.
Trump's expected attendance at the anti-abortion rally comes at a time when the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the June Medical Services v. Gee in Spring. This is set to be the first abortion case the top court will hear in nearly three years. Pro-choice activists fear the case could well be the vehicle the conservatives in the Court might use to dismantle the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which established the right to an abortion for Americans.
The June Medical Services v. Gee is based on a Louisiana law passed in 2014 that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic. Pro-choice advocates, however, have slammed the law, saying such legislation serves no medical purpose and is put in place to shut down abortion clinics. The 2014 law was challenged by one of the affected clinics, June Medical Services, and two doctors, who would be forced to close under the law.
The Supreme Court, in 2016, had struck down a virtually identical law in Texas in the Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt case. The law required abortion doctors to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital if they wished to perform abortions in the state. The top court, however, ruled it unconstitutional on the basis that limiting clinic availability was an undue burden on women seeking legal abortions.
The Louisiana law restricts abortions and clinics as it can be very difficult for abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges in hospitals. Such medical institutions often grant admitting privileges to physicians and doctors who admit a particular number of patients each year. It will be difficult for abortion providers to reach that criterion because the rate of complications arising from abortion is extremely low.
Justice Stephen Breyer, during the 2016 Whole Woman’s Health hearing, had told the Court that studies suggest "less than one-quarter of 1 percent" of first trimester abortions result in complications. Abortion-rights advocates, therefore, often describe admitting-privileges laws as “targeted restrictions on abortion providers,” or “TRAP” laws.
The June Medical Services v. Gee case hearing is key considering it would be the first abortion-related case to be heard by both Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, who are both considered conservatives, and would likely side with the abortion-restricting law. There are also concerns that the conservative justices could use the case to revisit Roe v. Wade as multiple Congress Republicans and anti-abortion groups are in favor of overturning the landmark decision.
More than 200 Republican lawmakers, in January, signed an amicus brief, asking the Supreme Court to uphold the 2014 Louisiana law, and also consider dismantling Roe.