this is "nightline." tonight, reversing roe. brett kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court leaving the future of "roe v. wade" uncertain. >> abortion is illegal! >> activists on both sides of the abortion battle bracing for a fight. >> we are certainly dangerously close to the cliff in which access becomes completely unavailable. >> how the confirmation of kavanaugh could impact a woman's right to choose for decades to come. >> i think the pro-life movement is advancing quickly. we see this battle as victory on its way. >> plus, cosby behind bars. >> the i dreamt for this day for 32 years. >> once beloved tv dad bill cosby spends hits first night in

prison. iconic comedian in happened cuffs, now labeled a sexually violent predator. they reaction from the women who spoke out cosby's wife says he was denied a fair trial. "nightline" will be right back.

good evening. thank you for joining us. supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh in the public now just

two days away from hearing from the woman who accuses him of sexual assault. and while washington and the country weigh those accusations and denials, the future of the supreme court hangs in the balance. the shifting center of the court and what it could mean for existing landmark decisions like "roe v. wade." a new documentary explores how the issue of abortion became highly politicized in the decades since the ruling. here's abc's gloria riviera. >> reporter: for dr. colleen mcnicholas getting to work is a feat. she is an abortion provider in the midwest where access to abortion is increasingly restricted. she lives and works in missouri, a state with only two abortion clinics. each month she also commutes to oklahoma and kansas, seeing patients in a total of four clinics across three states. >> in america one in four women will have an abortion in their life, so to me abortion is just basic healthcare. >> we're going to remove the

pregnancy, okay, and when i think about how politicized this has become i wonder, you know, how did this happen? >> reporter: does the fact that this is such a political debate, does it ever come into the kline snik. >> i take care of republican women and democratic women. i take care of women who have have children, who identify as christian or muslim or atheist. when they come into that space, their visit is not about politics. they don't care what their politician thinks. >> abortion is illegal! >> reporter: the abortion debate roiling this country for decades, especially after a woman's constitutional right to abortion became the law of the land with "roe v. wade" in 1973. >> the supreme court today ruled that abortion is completely a private matter to be decided by mother and doctor. >> reporter: divisions are stark. passions on both sides running deep. >> i will nominate judge brett kavanaugh to the united states supreme court. >> the fight taking on new urgency with president trump's nomination of brett kavanaugh to

the supreme court. >> when it toms to abortion in the contusion, this is probably the most pivotal vacancy in 40 years. >> reporter: kavanaugh would replace justice anthony kennedy and his ever important swing vote on abortion leaving the future of "roe v. wade" uncertain. >> so essentially in every major abortion case since kennedy has been on the court, as he has gone, so has gone the court. >> reporter: those on both sides are asking if kavanaugh is confirmed, could "roe v. wade" be reversed? him-makers rikki stern and annie sunberg took a look at the history of this debate and looked at how some women's access to abortion in the wake of "roe v. wade" is being restricted. >> we have to look back at the history to really understand how we got to where we are today that we're living in such a partisan world. we're now looking at a president who promised to elect pro-life justices and overturn "roe v. wade" and that's what we're seeing today. >> reporter: already today there are at least six states with only one abortion clinic. >> i do think that we are at a

pivotal moment and we're certainly dangerously close to the cliff in which access becomes completely unavailable to many places in this country. >> reporter: for anti-abortion activists, the moment is an opportunity almost 50 years in the making. >> the stakes are incredibly high right now when we talk about the supreme court to the united states of america. we actually believe that that momentum is on our side. >> reporter: as a candidate trump embraced the anti-abortion platform. >> do you want to see the court overturn "roe v. wade"? >> if we put another two or perhaps three justices on, that's really what -- that will happen, and that will happen automatically, in my opinion, because i am putting pro-life justices on the court. >> reporter: like conservative nominees before him, judge kavanaugh has declined to say how he would vote on "roe v. wade." instead -- >> well, as a general proposition i understand the importance of the precedent set forth in "roe v. wade." >> reporter: his only ruling on

abortion came last year, an undocumented teen in u.s. custody wanted to terminate her pregnancy. kavanaugh said she should not receive an abortion while in custody calling it abortion on demand. kristen hawkins hopes the nomination could eliminate protections for abortion. i first met her at the march to life. >> i speak to you pregnant with my fourth child, my first daughter. we are the pro-life generation! >> i'm here in indiana on the justice for life tour! >> reporter: hawkins is part of a coalition of conservative groups that embarked on a national tour to generate support for kavanaugh. >> and we are going to confirm kavanaugh. >> reporter: and with crisis due to sexual assault allegations hawkins is standing by him. >> we believe that accusers have the right and should speak out. i find it interesting that when we look at judge kavanaugh's case though it's, you know,

guilty until proven innocent. it's not the other way around. >> reporter: whatever kavanaugh's future hawkins feels confident. the so-called pro-life movement has an ally in president trump. >> under my administration we will always defend the very first right in the declaration of independence, and that is the right to life. >> reporter: trump's courting of the anti-abortion vote mirrors that of former president ronald reagan. >> reagan was told to get the support of evangelical voters which he will need in order to win. you really have to support pro-family which means pro-life policy. >> reporter: but i belie >> but i believe in abortion we are takinumanlife. >> reporter: he wasn't always in favor of pro-life. >> it was the first law that basically allowed legal abortion. >> reporter: and our current president started out

pro-. ceceoi >> reporter: only to later pivot as a candidate to the anti-abortion platform. the film-makers explore the aggressive tactics of many anti-abortion activists, like troy newman from operation rescue. his organization protests outside abortion clinics. >> we've been very effective in targeting particular abortionists. if they don't have an abortionist the place closes down, and when abortion clinics close, babies get saved. >> reporter: the >> these are clinics we've closed down and put them out of business, ocean side, lawrence, kansas. i like to look at them as a trove wall. we've probably closed down hundreds of abortion clinics, and it's the one thing that i'm most proud . >> reporter: dr. mcnicholas has firsthand experiences with protesters. you drive up to work and what do you typically see here? >>

and people come through. >> these babies don't want to die today, colleen. >> when i started out, i thought abortion would be part of my practice. just like people need hysterectomies they will need abortion and i realized in conservative states it's hard to get an abortion. >> reporter: since 2011 states have implemented more than 400 restrictions on abortion access. >> women have a right but states can regulate which makes it more difficult. >> reporter: can you describe some of the restrictions that have come into place and how it makes it hardtory do what you do. >> mandatory waiting periods, and they can be anywhere from 24 to 72 hours. mandated counseling. most or all of the places that i practice in also have insurance bans meaning that both public and private insurance companies >> f roreporter: those who wante v. wade" reversed feel the timet is advancing quickly. we see this battle as victory on

its way. >> reporter: does it feel like you're on the front lines of this? >> what i feel like is that i am at the front lines of a battle to protect women and to help them get the care and respect and dignity that they deserve. >> reporter: sounds like a foot soldier. >> and soldiering on. >> reporter: for now mcnicholas is packing her bags to get to work as long as she can. for "nightline" i'm gloria riviera in st. louis, missouri. >> this production is now on netflix. abc news will have live coverage of the confirmation hearing of judge kavanaugh and his accuser on thursday morning. next, bill cosby spending his first night in state prison. the collapse of an icon. u every? it's time to take back control with stelara®. for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease, stelara® works differently.

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in this age of star power and celebrity, bill cosby was royalty. a television trailblazer. tonight, he is an inmate, a convict, with a judge ruled today a violent sexual predator. this is no fall from grace. it is a complete and utter collapse. there is talk of an appeal, but tonight, tonight belongs to the woman, the women who lived in silence and shame for decades, but n lindsey davis. >> reporter: did you ever think that this day was going to come? >> i've dreamt of this day for 32 years, and i turned 50. it's the best birthday present ever. >> reporter: an emotional end to what's been a very long road for

the women who have come to be known as the cosby accusers. >> you are a simple and disgusting human being, and until your death, you deserve every bit of suffering that jail time and prison might bring to you. >> any comment, sir. >> reporter: the comedian once known as america's dad bill cosby taken into custody today after being sentenced to three to ten years in total confinement in either county jail or state prison. it's the conclusion to the jury's decision back in april that found him guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting former temple university employee andrea constand in 2004. 81-year-old cosby now classified as a sexually violent predator. >> the fact that he was deemed a violent sexualere means not only is he going to have to be treated differently while in pron gets out, if he gets o,ut, he's going to have to register wherever he lives for the rest of his life. >> reporter: the cosby

accusations would help ignite the hashtag movement. dozens of the women have filled the cover of "new york magazine" in 2015. cosby says any encounters with constand and the others were consensual and plans to appea his decision. >> this has been the most sexist and wrong trial in the united states. >> reporter: cosby chose to remain silent. his accusers did not. constand wrote a five-page victim impact statement which the jumping referenced during his sentencing. bill cosby took my healthy young spirit and crushed it, she wrote. his wife of 54 years, camille cosby, not present in court today but claiming the d.a. used falsified evidence against her husband writing in a statement eawe and prove that bill cosby was denied his right to a fair trial.

>> he'll have to serve at least three years in prison. not a day less. at that point he might be eligible for release. the question is he going to survive that time in prison? >> reporter: six months ago the comedian was found guilty of three counts of aggregated and indecent assault. a jury of seven men and five women taking 14 hours to unanimously decide cosby was guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting andrea constand at his pennsylvania home in 2004. >> this is a life-altering experience for any woman, any victim, and the person who i think needs to be heralded for what she has done is drea. >> reporter: it is the ultimate fall from grace for comedian once known at his wholesome image. we knew him for his comedy. >> hey, hey, hey. >> reporter: his shows, and, of course, the jell-o. >> you know how the kids love jell-o pudding.

>> reporter: he was a cultural trailblazer. in 1965 cosby broke through as the first black actor to star in a lead role in a network show "i spy." >> sits like this, and they are at the these sneer and in the 1980s who could forget "the cosby show." it would be the most watched show of the entire decade. >> he made people, especially in the african-american community feel that the depiction of a dad who was a doctor, who was married to a wife who was very accomplished and who he loved depicted something about themselves. >> reporter: post-cosby show he transitioned from everyone's favorite father to perhaps everyone's crotchety grandfather. >> everybody knows it's important to speak english except these knuckleheads. >> he was with the way people were bringing up their children and sharply critical of the way young people were behaving. >> reporter: early throne may

have been signs of a darker side at least in his comedy routes sh fly. >> reporter: one of his most popular gags, giving a woman an aphrodisiac. >> put us in her drink. >> reporter: rumors of his alleged behavior seemed to spark for years but what sparked the explosion came from another comedian, hannibal burke. >> i can talk down to you because i had a successful sitcom. >> reporter: when this clip from burres' stand-up act went viral in 2014, a flood of women came forward with strikingly similar stories that span decades and seemed to follow a pattern that cosby allegedly drugged his victims and then assaulted them while they were passed out. >> i sat down with cosby in 2015. >> good to see you. >> reporter: as he promoted a nonprofit organization and was defiant in the face of the women's claims and the effect they might have on his legacy. are you concerned at all that given the allegations that that

may overshadow your message? >> it's interesting. >> reporter: this is a situation that's unprecedented. my family. my friends. i have been in this business 52 seen anything like this, and reality is the situation, and i can't speak. >> reporter: a young person comes up to you and says, you know, my mom says you've done some bad things. how will you answer them if they are pressing you? are you guilty? did you do it? are the allegations true? >> i am prepared to tell this young person the truth about life. >> reporter: two months after that interview, a bombshell civil deposition was released. in it, the description of of a 2004 encounter between cosby and

andrea constand. cosby's own words creating the first real cracks in his public image. tonight the man who so many women say eluded punishment for so long is spending his first night of many behind bars. now this case was about andrea constand, but does it feel like vindication for both of you? >> yes, yes, it does. one of the things i was most struck by today that he probably has had the first sense of helplessness that he's ever had in his life. he was taken somewhere he didn't want to go by people he didn't want to go with to do something he didn't want to do, and that's what he inflicted on us. the whole thing is sad. it's not a day for celebration. it's a shame that it ever happened at all. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm lindsey davis in norristown, pennsylvania. >> we'll be right back. my gums are irritated. i don't have to worry about that, do i?

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and finally tonight, two ob-gyns in kansas paid for a special delivery at the zoo.

it was in wichita when a orangutan experienced labor complications. the zookeepers called in a pair of ob-gyns who had to perform an emergency c-section. lily who is happily living with mom at the zoo. thank you for watching "nightline" and thanks for the company, america. good night.

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