With Abortion At Center Of Supreme Court Fight, Cleveland Groups React

President Trump's upcoming nomination to fill the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat will likely end up with abortion front and center in the U.S. Senate hearings in D.C.

In Cleveland, abortion rights supporters and opponents are paying close attention and activating their members.

Trump said on Monday that he plans to announce his nominee at the end of this week. This would be his third Supreme Court nominee in less than four years — tilting the court even further to the right than its 5-4 conservative majority. 

Cleveland anti-abortion advocates say they are hopeful the president's pick will increase the conservative majority and overturn Roe v. Wade, the court case that legalized abortion in the United States.

Local members of the anti-abortion group 40 Days for Life are planning to hold prayer vigils in anticipation of the appointment, said John Noall, a Cleveland-area campaign director for the organization.

“The hope is, for the pro-lifers, that a Supreme Court justice will be nominated that will … restore America back to a culture of life that it was for the first 200 years before abortion was legalized in 1973,” Noall said.

Supporters of abortion rights in the Cleveland area are hoping, however, that President Trump will wait until after the upcoming election to nominate a justice, said Chrisse France, executive director of Preterm Cleveland, a health clinic that provides abortions.

People have sought to end the right to have abortions for years, but overturning Roe v. Wade would lead women to turn to unsafe procedures to have abortions, she said.

“The choices are legal abortion or unsafe abortion,” France said.“If Roe were to be overturned, people would still have abortions – it would just be unregulated and possibly dangerous.”

France has been concerned for years about the possibility of the court overturning Roe v. Wade, and the new Supreme Court vacancy has put the issue at the top of her mind, she said.

“We’ve known for years that Justice Ginsburg has battled cancer and all kinds of things, and she’s had a lot on her shoulders, and I think it’s time for those of us who can and are able to stand on our own and to make sure we do everything we can to make sure that abortion remains legal and accessible in Ohio,” she said.

Members of the 40 Days for Life organization believe Trump filling a vacant Supreme Court seat before the election is divine intervention, Noall said.

“To have it happen at this moment – we believe God’s hand is involved in this,” he said. “God is the one who has dominion over life and death – not man.”