Stare Decisis is Latin for “let the decision stand” which is exactly what Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices said would guide them when it came to the 50-year old precedent protecting a pregnant woman’s right to privacy and autonomy. But what Trump’s nominees opined in their Senate confirmation hearings didn’t “stand” any more than Roe v Wade did. Abortion is now decidedly unsettled across the country. As voters, we can choose to trust those who promise, whether in confirmation hearings or in endless TV ads, to respect the law and precedent on abortion, or we can wise up and look at history.

Kelly Ayotte is not now and never has been pro-choice. As NH’s Attorney General, she argued “Ayotte v Planned Parenthood of Northern New England” before the US Supreme Court. Even though she lost that case to restrict abortion for women under the age of 18 that failed to include an exception for the health of the pregnant teen, the outcome of “Ayotte” set the stage for the next 15 years of right-wing legal strategy. That 2006 case is exactly why Trump tapped Ayotte to be Neil Gorsuch’s ‘sherpa’ as he navigated Senate confirmation hearings: she shared both men’s commitment to overturning Roe v Wade and removing protections for pregnant women. Now Ayotte promises to “protect the law” if elected governor (a low bar), leaving plenty of room to act as “sherpa” to a national abortion ban. Don’t be fooled twice.

Mary Downes

Madbury