Amy Coney Barrett: the devout catholic and early favourite to replace Ginsburg

Amy Coney Barrett, at 46, would also become the youngest justices of the highest court in the land if named and confirmed

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One of the debates forever raging around the Supreme Court is the legitmacy of Roe vs Wade, the landmark 1973 judgement that protects the right to have an abortion.

So it may alarm nervous liberals across the US and the world to learn that the favourite to be nominated by Donald Trump to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a staunchly conservative devout Roman catholic with seven children.

Democrats worry that Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump-appointed Court of Appeal judge in Chicago, could have her legal decisions on divisive issues clouded by her religious views.

“Dogma lives loudly within you,” Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said at Mrs Barrett’s confirmation hearing in 2017.

After the bitter confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, White House aides reportedly told Barrett that she would be saved for the next appointment. Mr Trump may feel pressure to choose a woman to replace Ginsburg to appease voters.

Democrats may take some comfort from a 2013 speech by Judge Coney Barrett in which she said it was “highly unlikely” the important Roe vs Wade ruling would be overturned.

But she has in the past questioned the procedure’s funding. “It’s a question of whether abortions will be publicly or privately funded,” she told the University of Notre Dame’s student newspaper.

The other Conservative candidates vying for the nomination can be found on a list revealed last week by Mr Trump, including three sitting senators: Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

Each are reliable voters loyal to Mr Trump during his impeachment and have backed his agenda so far.

“It’s time for Roe V Wade to go," Mr Cotton tweeted directly after he was named.

Ted Cruz has said he does not want to be nominated for the position

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Mr Cruz meanwhile has denied that he would accept a nomination, telling Fox News “it’s not the desire of my heart. I want to be in the political fight”, after the list was revealed.

Other candidates could include Judge William H Pryor Junior of the 11th Circuit, who took some notable positions during his brief stint in politics and ultimately invalidated state sodomy laws in a blow to LGBT rights.

He has also been an especially outspoken critic of Roe V Wade, calling it “the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history”.

Whoever Mr Trump decides to nominate, it is unequivocal that the appointment will have lasting impacts for a generation by confirming a conservative majority in the court.