Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Inner Workings Of Supreme Court Under Microscope With Leak
USA Today: Jane Roe Daughter Slams Supreme Court Leaked Abortion Opinion
The daughter of the woman who became the face of the 1973 Roe v. Wade case that granted Americans a constitutional right to abortion said overturning the decision was dangerous and her mother would be furious with the Supreme Court for doing so. "I think mom would be turning in her grave because she was always pro-woman," Melissa Mills told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview. Mills said she was in shock when she got a text message Monday night and learned a leaked draft opinion indicated the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark decision. (Ruiz-Goiriena, 5/6)
Who leaked the draft opinion? —
The Hill: NPR Reporter Says ‘Leading Theory’ On SCOTUS Leak Is Conservative Clerk
A clerk for a conservative justice is the “leading theory” amid intense speculation about who released a draft opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito showing the court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg of NPR. Totenberg said on ABC’s “This Week” that the prevailing theory is that a conservative clerk released the decision in an attempt to lock in the five justices who voted to support overturning Roe as Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly attempts to pull his colleagues toward a more moderate position. (Dress, 5/8)
The Hill: GOP Calls For SCOTUS Probe Set Off Alarm Bells
Calls from high-ranking Republicans for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to launch its own investigation into the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion are alarming those who say the DOJ would be blurring the separation of powers in pursuit of something that may not even be a crime. The leak has set off a round of finger-pointing and calls for heads to roll following the history-making release of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. (Beitsch, 5/8)
More on the Supreme Court —
The Hill: Roe V. Wade Draft Fuels Democratic Calls To Add Justices To Supreme Court
Proposals to reform the Supreme Court are getting new attention from Democrats following a leaked draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn Roe v. Wade, one of the most consequential civil rights decisions of the past 50 years. Democrats say the opinion, if supported by five conservative justices, opens the door to reversals of other landmark court decisions on same-sex marriage or the right to use contraception. (Bolton, 5/8)
The Washington Post: How The Future Of Roe Is Testing Roberts’s Clout On Supreme Court
The explosive leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade not only focused the nation on the magnitude of the change facing abortion rights, it also signaled the rise of a rightward-moving bench that is testing the power of fellow conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. As the country awaits a final decision, the intense deliberations inside a court closed to the public and shaken by revelations of its private negotiations appears to be not between the court’s right and left, but among the six conservative justices, including Roberts, in the court’s supermajority. (Barnes, Leonnig and Marimow, 5/7)
Also —
The New York Times: If Roe Falls, Is Same-Sex Marriage Next?
When the Supreme Court heard arguments in December over the fate of the constitutional right to abortion, it was already clear that other rights, notably including same-sex marriage, could be at risk if the court overruled Roe v. Wade. The logic of that legal earthquake, Justice Sonia Sotomayor predicted, would produce a jurisprudential tsunami that could sweep away other precedents, too. (Liptak, 5/8)
The Hill: How Roe V. Wade’s Reversal Could Affect The LGBT Community
LGBT advocates are warning that the overturned of Roe v. Wade is not something that exclusively impacts straight, cisgender women. “There’s so much about LGBTQ liberation and reproductive justice that connects us…and connect our movements. You know, the foundation of our movements were built on you know, freedom, you know, sexual freedom,” said Kierra Johnson, executive director of the LGBTQ Task Force. (Vella, 5/8)
KHN: Journalists Recap News On Reproductive Health, From The Abortion Debate To C-Sections
Chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion on KCRW’s “Press Play With Madeleine Brand” on May 3. ... Interim Southern Bureau editor Andy Miller explored why cesarean section rates are so high in the South and what some states are doing to bring them down on WUGA’s “Georgia Health Report” on April 22. (5/7)
