Leaked draft Supreme Court abortion decision would overturn Roe v. Wade

According to the first draft leaked, the Supreme Court is ready to overturn the constitutionally protected right to abortion guaranteed by the Roe v. Wade decision, almost 50 years old. A new opinion obtained by Politico.

The draft was written by Judge Samuel Alito, at least with consent. The other four conservative members of the Supreme Court.

“We hold it egg When Casey According to Politico’s report released Monday night, Arito wrote in a 98-page draft decision relating to the strict new abortion law in Mississippi.

“The unavoidable conclusion is that the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the history and traditions of the country.”

“It’s time to pay attention to the Constitution and return the abortion issue to elected representatives of the people,” Justice wrote in a draft published by the site.

“”egg I was terribly wrong from the beginning. “

CNBC said the credibility of the draft opinion that Politico was circulated among judges in February and that three liberal members of the court, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, wrote dissenting opinions. I couldn’t confirm.

It is unknown if there have been any changes since the draft was first distributed.

If the draft opinion is formally issued by the court before its term ends in about two months, it leaves the individual states to set restrictions on when and how a woman can end her pregnancy. increase.

Any state may allow all abortions, but states led by conservative Republicans in the South and Midwest may impose far more stringent restrictions than are currently in place.

Oklahoma’s house passed a bill on Thursday set to be approved by Governor Kevin Stitt, who bans most abortions about six weeks after pregnancy.

The Supreme Court’s decision expected in Arito’s draft adopted a law limiting the right to abortion, with the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey’s ruling further strengthened women’s right to abortion.

However, Politico said the Supreme Court’s draft opinion was not firm and judges could change the position of the case after a copy of the draft was circulated among them.

Politico also said, “While the proceedings are still pending, the court’s decision in modern history has not been publicly disclosed. Unprecedented revelation discusses the most controversial case in Dockett this season. Must intensify. “

The highly respected Supreme Court news site SCOTUSblog states, “In terms of breaking trust between judges and officials, it is impossible to exaggerate the earthquake this causes in court. This leak is the most serious. , The most unforgivable sin. “

Politico’s editor-in-chief, Dafna Linzer, wrote in the editor’s note, “I am confident in the credibility of the draft after an extensive review process.”

“This unprecedented view of the judge’s deliberations is clearly big public interest news,” she wrote.

A Supreme Court spokesman refused to comment on CNBC on Politico’s report.

Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement to the report, “Clarify. Abortion is legal, but it’s still your right.”

“This leaked opinion is horribly unprecedented and supports our worst fears. The Supreme Court is ready to end the constitutional right to abortion by overturning the Roe v. Wade case. That’s what Magill said.

“We’ve seen it written on the wall for decades, but it’s not so devastating, and their final anti-abortion rights groups ban abortion nationwide. It comes just like announcing a plan, “she said. “Understand that the planned parent-child relationship and our partners are prepared for all possible outcomes in this case and are built for the fight. The planned parent-child relationship health center Remaining open, abortion is still legal and we continue to fight like hell to protect our rights to access safe and legal abortion. ”

Arito’s draft decision was submitted to the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a Mississippi law-based proceeding that bans almost all abortions after 15 weeks of gestation.

Lower federal courts have blocked the law because it violates the legal protections established by the decisions of Roe and Casey.

Together, these rulings require that abortion be protected before the point of fetal viability (about 24 weeks gestation) and that the laws governing abortion do not pose an “excessive burden”.

In a oral argument at the High Court in December, a liberal judge expressed serious concern about the court’s consequences, which had already sparked a controversy and faced unprecedented low approval from the public. .. The most divisive problem in American politics.

“Will this institution survive the stink it creates in the general perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?” Sotomayor wondered aloud during those discussions.

“I don’t know how that’s possible,” she said.

In the draft opinion, as reported, Arito writes: The provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment. “

According to Politico, “Rho’s advocates characterize the right to abortion to be similar to the rights granted in previous decisions, including issues such as intimate sexual relations, contraception, and marriage.” Stated.

According to the press, he continued. “But abortion destroys what these decisions call” fetal life “and what the law now before us calls” fetal humans, “so both Roe and Casey. As admitted, it is fundamentally different. “

Arito wrote that the tradition known as gaze decision, or obedience to case law, “does not enforce endless compliance with the abuse of Law’s judiciary.”

“Roe was terribly wrong from the beginning,” Alito continued in a draft published by Politico. “The reasoning was very weak, the decision had detrimental consequences, and instead of providing a national solution to the abortion problem, Roe and Casey intensified the debate and deepened the division.”

“We end this opinion where we started,” Arito wrote.

“Abortion presents a serious moral issue. The Constitution does not prohibit citizens of each state from regulating or banning abortion. Roe and Casey have arrogantly arrogant their authority. We are now. , Rejecting those decisions and returning that authority to the people and their elected representatives. “

Arito’s draft dismisses the idea of ​​allowing him and other judges in the majority to influence the way he votes on this issue, and anticipates a backlash against overthrowing Law and Casey.

According to Politico’s report, “we cannot allow our decisions to be influenced by external influences, such as concerns about the public’s reaction to our work,” Arito wrote.

“We do not pretend to know how our political system and society respond to overturning today’s decisions. egg When Casey.. And even if we can foresee what will happen, we do not have the authority to make that knowledge influence our decisions. “