The PulseAbortion, Politics - U.S., Specialty pages, Republican Presidential Primaries 2016

In case you needed another reason to dislike Donald Trump -- in addition to his flip-flopping on abortion, immigration, and single-payer health care, and his use of government to harass homeowners -- here is Ramesh Ponnoru:

Donald Trump told Mark Halperin yesterday that his sister, a federal judge, would be a “phenomenal” Supreme Court justice. He also said that “we will have to rule that out now, at least.” If he ever becomes president, let’s hope he rules it out permanently. Maryanne Trump Barry came up in my book The Party of Death for writing one of those heated judicial decisions in favor of giving constitutional protection to partial-birth abortion. She called a New Jersey law against it a “desperate attempt” to undermine Roe v. Wade. It was, she wrote, “based on semantic machinations, irrational line-drawing, and an obvious attempt to inflame public opinion instead of logic or medical evidence.” It made no difference where the fetus was when it “expired.”

That's right -- Donald Trump's sister wrote in 2000 that it should be legal to kill babies up to the point of departing their mother's womb. And he's cool with her being on the Supreme Court.

Ponnoru's point highlights Trump's untrustworthiness on abortion. It was Trump who in 1999 declared that he was "very pro-choice." Yet recently he said he would shut down the government if necessary to defund Planned Parenthood...just a few days before saying he would fund Planned Parenthood's non-abortion services and products.

As is the case on many issues, Americans have no idea what Trump believes on abortion. Ponnoru is right to note that it's fine for Trump to praise his sister. But it's concerning to suggest that we allow such a radical person into one of the most powerful positions in the country -- a position that would certainly help keep Roe v. Wade as law of the land.