US President Donald Trump has announced Neil Gorsuch as his nomination for United States Supreme Court Justice.
The vacancy was created by the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, and Mr Trump promised to choose a justice with similar conservative credentials.
Mr Gorsuch is currently a federal judge on the 10th circuit court of appeals, and has spoken strongly in favour of the constitutional interpretation of originalism - the belief that the Constitution should be interpreted as it was understood when it was created, rather than changing with the times.
He graduated from Columbia, Harvard and Oxford, and clerked for two Supreme Court justices - Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.
He is known as a supporter of religious freedom rights, and being anti-federal regulations, as well as being pro-life.
Supreme Court blog 'SCOTUSblog' described the similarities between Mr Gorsuch and Mr Scalia as "eerie".
"He is an ardent textualist (like Scalia); he believes criminal laws should be clear and interpreted in favour of defendants even if that hurts government prosecutions (like Scalia); he is sceptical of efforts to purge religious expression from public spaces (like Scalia); he is highly dubious of legislative history (like Scalia); and he is less than enamoured of the dormant commerce clause (like Scalia)," the blog wrote.
His book, The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, was described as arguing for "the idea that human life is intrinsically valuable and that intentional killing is always wrong".
He sided with the governor of Utah in an attempt to defund Planned Parenthood, and with Hobby Lobby in a case against contraception coverage.
Mr Gorsuch now faces confirmation by the Senate - which the Republicans currently control with a 52-48 majority.
Unless the Democrats filibuster, Mr Gorsuch is expected to be confirmed and join the Court soon.
Newshub.
