On February 1, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated 10th Circuit U.S. Appeals Court judge Neil Gorsuch to replace Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court. If Neil Gorsuch were to be confirmed by the Senate, he would fill the ninth spot on the Court that was left vacant since Justice Scalia's death in February 2016. Merrick Garland, who was originally appointed by Barack Obama, will return to his original position as a justice on the D.C. Court of Appeals.

Gorsuch has been part of the 10th Circuit of Appeals since being nominated for the position by President George W. Bush in 2006. Gorsuch is known for having an originalist approach towards interpreting the words of the Constitution. Originalists believe that the Constitution should be interpreted in the time frame that it was originally constructed. Gorsuch is also a textualist judge, who only looks at the exact meaning of the words in the document without any other interpretations.

The appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the nation's highest court could begin the institution's march towards a more conservative path. The last time the Supreme Court had a liberal-leaning tilt was in 1969 which coincided with the retirement of Chief Justice Earl Warren. The court would now consist of five Republican appointed justices and four Democrat appointed justices. Essentially, the ideology of the court would stay the same as it did when former Justice Antonin Scalia was on the bench.

The balance on the Supreme Court could further tip towards the Republican as Ruth Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thoma, and Anthony Kennedy are all older than 75 years old. If all four were to retire during President Trump's term, it would lead a new era of the Supreme Court that would last for decades.

One of Neil Gorsuch's well-known viewpoints are on the usage of assisted suicide in various states. In his work "The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia," Gorsuch believes that the intentional killing of individuals with consent essentially amount to homicide. Also, another issue brought by Gorsuch is that the mass legalization of assisted suicide could be used to justify consensual killing in manners such as duels or mass suicides.