The famous opening line to L P Hartley’s novel The Go-Between – “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there” – could equally apply to the United States of America, especially where abortion legislation is concerned. The rest of the world will be somewhat bemused as President Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to fill an impending vacancy on the US Supreme Court is minutely scrutinised in Congress and across the media with the focus on one issue. Is he or is he not likely to favour the overturning of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court judgment of 1973?