05/03/2022

Leaked Draft Supreme Court Opinion Would Strike Down Roe v. Wade

The opinion was penned by Judge Samuel Alito

A published draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade has clouded the future of reproductive rights, disrupted the nation's political landscape and undermined the high court’s image as a place of private deliberations free from the dramatic leaks common in the political branches of government.

Monday night’s disclosure by Politico of the draft opinion that it said was circulated by Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. represents an extreme breach of modern Supreme Court protocol. The report said that Alito, along with Justice Clarence Thomas and all of three of President Donald Trump’s nominees to the court — Justices Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — had already voted to overturn the precedent, a conclusion that seemed a possibility in December when the court considered a Mississippi law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks.

The fallout has included outrage from liberal politicians, a call for an investigation into the leak and a demand by some on the political right that the Supreme Court forgo protocol and issue a decision immediately — before the justices’ opinions could change.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.