Trump praises Supreme Court for 'giving rights back' in abortion ruling

June 24 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump on Thursday praised the Supreme Court for "giving rights back" by overturning Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

The high court handed down the 6-3 decision Thursday morning, though a draft opinion of the ruling was leaked in early May. While the ruling itself does not outlaw abortion, it pushes the decision on its legality back to individual states, many of which have enacted bans or severe restrictions.

"This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago," Trump told Fox News. "This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged."

Asked what he thinks the reaction will be among his supporters who also favor abortion rights, Trump said, "I think, in the end, this is something that will work out for everybody."

The 6-3 vote was bolstered by the three conservative Supreme Court justices Trump put in place during his four-year term in office -- Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. They, together with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, voted in favor of overturning Roe vs. Wade, while Justices Elena Kagan Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer voted against it.

Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the majority in favor of upholding Mississippi's abortion restrictions, but said he was against overturning Roe vs. Wade.

Prior to Trump's term in office, the high court was ideologically evenly split, with Roberts usually serving as a swing vote.

When asked by Fox News whether he thinks he played a part in the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade on Thursday, Trump replied: "God made the decision."

Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, meanwhile, said he wants the Supreme Court to go another step forward and completely ban abortion nationwide.

File Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/UPI

"Now that Roe vs. Wade has been consigned to the ash heap of history, a new arena in the cause of life has emerged, and it is incumbent on all who cherish the sanctity of life to resolve that we will take the defense of the unborn and the support for women in crisis pregnancy centers to every state in America," he told conservative website Breitbart.

"Having been given this second chance for life, we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land."