Schumer rallies opposition to Trump anti-abortion court pick

WASHINGTON (AP):

The Senate's top Democrat tried yesterday to rally public opposition to any Supreme Court pick by President Donald Trump who'd oppose abortion rights, issuing a striking campaign season call to action for voters to prevent such a nominee by putting "pressure on the Senate".

With Trump saying he'll pick from a list of 25 potential nominees he's compiled with guidance from conservatives, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said any of them would be "virtually certain" to favour overturning Roe v Wade, the 1973 case that affirmed women's right to abortion.

They would also be "very likely" to back weakening President Barack Obama's 2010 law that expanded healthcare coverage to millions of Americans, he said.

Schumer said that while Democrats don't control the Senate Republicans have a 51-49 edge most senators back abortion rights. In an unusually direct appeal to voters, he said that to block "an ideological nominee," people should "tell your senators" to oppose anyone from Trump's list.

"It will not happen on its own," the New Yorker wrote in an opinion column in Monday's New York Times. "It requires the public's focus on these issues, and its pressure on the Senate."

Trump has said he is focusing on up to seven potential candidates, including two women, to fill the vacancy of retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, a swing vote on the nine-member court. He's said he'll announce his pick on July 9.