In what would quantity to an unprecedented leak in fashionable occasions, Politico on Monday night time printed what it mentioned was a draft opinion indicating the abortion rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade can be overturned by the Supreme Courtroom in a pending case later this 12 months.
The doc, reportedly authored by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated in February, suggests at the very least 5 justices facet with Mississippi in its case earlier than the court docket difficult the landmark 1973 abortion ruling.
NBC Information has not been capable of independently confirm the authenticity of the doc, and the Supreme Courtroom declined to remark.
“The Courtroom has no remark,” Supreme Courtroom spokeswoman Patricia McCabe mentioned in a press release.
Throughout oral arguments in December, the court docket’s 6-3 conservative majority appeared poised to uphold Mississippi’s regulation banning practically all abortions after 15 weeks of being pregnant. The court docket’s three liberal justices warned on the time that revoking abortion rights nationwide would paint the excessive court docket as a political physique.
Advocacy teams on either side of the abortion rights debate reacted Monday night time to information of the draft opinion.
“This leaked opinion is horrifying and unprecedented, and it confirms our worst fears: that the Supreme Courtroom is ready to finish the constitutional proper to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade,” mentioned Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of the Deliberate Parenthood Federation of America. “Deliberate Parenthood well being facilities stay open, abortion is presently nonetheless authorized, and we’ll proceed to struggle like hell to guard the proper to entry secure, authorized abortion.”
Mallory Carroll, a spokesperson for the Susan B. Anthony Checklist, which helps ending abortion, mentioned the group wouldn’t remark “till the official determination is made.”
The ultimate opinion is anticipated in late June or early July, that means it’s potential the justices’ ultimate votes and the choice might change.
Overturning Roe v. Wade has been the first aim of anti-abortion rights teams for many years, and the leaked opinion is anticipated to place immense strain on congressional Democrats to take some form of motion to guard abortion rights as a rising variety of states enact legal guidelines curbing abortion entry.
Nonetheless, Senate guidelines requiring 60 votes for many laws to advance within the evenly break up chamber have prevented Democrats from getting a invoice to President Joe Biden’s desk that will codify Roe v. Wade.
