POLITICS | Fri Jun 9, 2017 | 11:13am EDT

Delaware governor signs first state abortion rights law under Trump

Delaware's governor has signed into law a bill ensuring abortion remains legal in the state, the first such move in the United States since President Donald Trump was elected on a pledge to overturn the landmark ruling that legalized abortion nationally.

Abortion rights advocates on Friday cheered the move by Governor John Carney Jr., who a day earlier approved the bill to codify at the state level provisions of Roe v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court decision protecting a woman's right to abortion.

"We applaud Governor Carney for sending a strong message that state policymakers will protect women's access to critical reproductive health services in the face of threats at the federal level," said Amanda Allen, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Trump, a Republican whose election was backed by anti-abortion groups, has promised to appoint justices to the nation's top court who would overturn Roe v. Wade and let states decide whether to legalize abortion.

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