Trump congratulated his conservative Supreme Court justice picks for their 'courage' amid the overturn of Roe v. Wade

• At an Illinois rally Saturday night, former President Donald Trump praised the rollback of Roe v. Wade.
• He thanked the three conservative justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — he appointed to the court.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday thanked his three conservative justice picks on the Supreme Court, all of whom voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion a constitutional right nationwide.

"Yesterday the court handed down a victory for the Constitution, a victory for the rule of law, and above all, a victory for life," Trump said during a rally in Mendon, Illinois.

"Thanks to the courage found within the United States Supreme Court, this long divisive issue will be decided by the states and by the American people," he added.

Trump prefaced the rally by saying the court's decision 'was the answer to the prayers for millions and millions of people — and these prayers have gone on for decades and decades."

"Your boundless love, sacrifice, and devotion has finally been awarded in full," he told the cheering crowd.

The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade sparked protests nationwide. Since the decision was made public, a slew of prominent individuals from musician Jack White to lawmakers such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have blasted the ruling. Attorney General Merrick Garlan condemned the court's decision, saying on Friday that it's a "devastating blow to reproductive freedom in the United States."

White is among those who've directly credited Trump for the decision, saying his appointment of three conservative justices within his single-term presidency made it possible to roll back Roe in the first place.

At the rally Saturday night, Trump reminded the crowd that while on the presidential campaign trail in 2016, he had promised to appoint judges and justices who "would stand up for the original meaning of the Constitution and who would honestly and faithfully interpret the law as written."

He congratulated his three picks — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — and praised the decision.

The Republican party, he said, believes that "every precious child is born and unborn as the sacred gift from God."

Since May, abortion-rights advocates have feared that the Supreme Court would strike down Roe v. Wade. The fears began when Politico published a leaked draft opinion in which Associate Justice Samuel Alito called the decision "egregiously wrong from the start."

Abortion, however, remained legal in the United States until the court handed down the final verdict. But the draft itself was enough to put reproductive rights activists and doctors who perform abortions on edge.

By overturning Roe, the Supreme Court has put the question of the legality of abortion in the hands of individual state legislatures and has essentially made it illegal in at least 22 states to obtain an abortion. There are expected to be added restrictions in several others.