Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch lacks a judicial record on abortion but would likely be a voice against women’s reproductive rights, Professor David S. Cohen said in an article appearing in The Guardian on Feb. 1.

“Neil Gorsuch has all the makings of an extreme anti-abortion justice,” Cohen said. “He is devoted to originalism, has decried using the courts for social change, and has protected the rights of religious Christians to impose their views on everyone else. Whether he will vote to overturn Roe v Wade is unknown, but the signs don’t point in the right direction.”

Under originalist doctrine, the article notes, the constitution and later amendments’ silence on the topic of abortion means that the issue should be left to the states.

“A conservative who believes in originalism thinks Roe v Wade is one of the worst decisions ever decided,” Cohen said.