West Virginia Town Tries to Move Past Michelle Obama Post, How Trump's Election Might Affect Abortion Rights

West Virginia Town Tries to Move Past Michelle Obama Post

As a small West Virginia community tries to move past the backlash of a racist Facebook post that targeted first lady Michelle Obama, a council member had some inviting words for outsiders who look down on her town.

"Come see us," Joyce Gibson said. "Spend a day with us. If I knew you would come, I would bake a cake. We're very decent people."

Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling resigned Tuesday and the Town Council later met to accept it. The resignation came after another woman whose post Whaling responded to was placed on leave as director of the nonprofit Clay County Development Corp.

When President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, one of the most immediate and critical decisions he’ll have to make is filling the vacancy left on the Supreme Court by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland earlier this year, but the nomination will expire before Obama leaves office in January if he is not confirmed, which is likely.

Trump, whose own position on abortion has shifted over time, told CBS News' "60 Minutes" last week he was "pro-life" and would appoint individuals who held the same position to the nation's highest court. Speaking about Roe v. Wade, the president-elect said, "If it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states.”

While the addition of one conservative justice is unlikely to realign the nation’s highest court in such a way that the landmark abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade could be threatened, the replacement of additional justices, could, according to Kate Shaw, an ABC News contributor and Cardozo law professor, have major consequences. We asked Shaw to help explain how this might work.

Blog

West Virginia Town Tries to Move Past Michelle Obama Post, How Trump's Election Might Affect Abortion Rights

Comments