Rare Leak Reveals Supreme Court Ready To Strike Down Roe V. Wade

Politico: Supreme Court Has Voted To Overturn Abortion Rights, Draft Opinion Shows
The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO. The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision – Planned Parenthood v. Casey – that largely maintained the right. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito writes. “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he writes in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court.” (Gerstein and Ward, 5/2)

AP: Leaked Draft Supreme Court Decision Would Overturn Roe V. Wade, Politico Report Says
The document was labeled a “1st Draft” of the “Opinion of the Court” in a case challenging Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks, a case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The court is expected to rule on the case before its term ends in late June or early July. The draft opinion in effect states there is no constitutional right to abortion services and would allow individual states to more heavily regulate or outright ban the procedure. “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” it states, referencing the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey that affirmed Roe’s finding of a constitutional right to abortion services but allowed states to place some constraints on the practice. (Sherman and Miller, 5/3)

Mississippi Today: Report: SCOTUS Will Overturn Roe V. Wade In Mississippi Abortion Case
The Washington, D.C.-based news organization reported that during an initial vote on the case after oral arguments in December, Alito was joined by conservative justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas. The alignment could change before the opinion is finalized, and justices often make multiple rounds of revisions before releasing a ruling. Politico reported that the three Democratic-appointed justices, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, are working on one or more draft dissent opinions. The publication reported that the position of Chief Justice John Roberts, who has shown more reticence than his fellow Republican appointees to overturn past rulings on abortion, is unclear. (Taft, 5/2)

Reproductive health service providers react —

The Hill: Planned Parenthood: Draft Supreme Court Ruling Striking Down Roe V. Wade ‘Devastating’
“While we have seen the writing on the wall for decades, it is no less devastating, and comes just as anti-abortion rights groups unveil their ultimate plan to ban abortion nationwide,” Planned Parenthood President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement. “Understand that Planned Parenthood and our partners have been preparing for every possible outcome in this case and are built for the fight.” The pro-abortion rights organization emphasized that the decision is a draft, with an official ruling not expected for weeks. (Lejeune, 5/2)

The New York Times: Abortion Rights Supporters Used Strong Language To Say The Procedure Was Under Threat
In the immediate aftermath of a leaked draft opinion that suggests the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, supporters of abortion rights emphasized that the procedure was still legal — but under serious threat. “We need to brace for a future where more and more people are punished and criminalized for seeking and providing abortion care,” Mini Timmaraju, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said. Cecile Richards served as president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018, a period during which Congress and state legislatures increasingly tightened restrictions on reproductive health. She blamed the Republican Party for the current climate, saying it had rigged the Supreme Court and used its political power to take away women’s rights. “Ending legal abortion will not end abortion,” she said. “It simply will mean that women are no longer safe in this country.” (Zernike and Dias, 5/3)

Protesters gather at the Supreme Court building —

Axios: Roe V. Wade: Abortion Protesters Rally Outside Supreme Court
Demonstrators rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court over Monday night after a leaked draft document first published by Politico indicated the justices were preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion ruling. As abortion rights advocates planned to hold protests across the U.S. on Tuesday, about 200 demonstrators gathered in front of barricades at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., late Monday. Most were pro-abortion rights protesters. A small group of anti-abortion demonstrators was also present. (Cai, 5/3)

Reuters: 'Do Something Democrats,' Abortion Rights Supporters Chant At U.S. Supreme Court
"The first line in the draft is that this is a moral issue," Annie McDonnell, 19, a student at George Washington University, said, referring to the draft opinion. "If it's a moral issue, you shouldn't be depriving us of our choice." "Justices get out of my vagina," one sign held aloft read. "I love someone who had an abortion," read another. The crowd was interspersed with a smaller number of anti-abortion activists, including some with drums and guitars chanting, "Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Roe v. Wade has got to go.” (Warburton, 5/3)

In news about the leak itself —

The Hill: Republicans Condemn Leak Of Supreme Court Draft Abortion Ruling
While Democrats denounced the substance of the draft ruling, GOP leaders condemned the leak itself, with some saying it was evidence of hostility toward conservative views. “The left continues its assault on the Supreme Court with an unprecedented breach of confidentiality, clearly meant to intimidate,” wrote Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R). “The Justices mustn’t give in to this attempt to corrupt the process. Stay strong.” It was unclear who provided the document to Politico, which pointed out that an official ruling isn’t expected for weeks. (Folmar, 5/2)

Politico: How Rare Is A Supreme Court Breach? Very Rare
The disclosure of a draft opinion in a Supreme Court case is a highly unusual occurrence. Supreme Court historians, former law clerks and other court watchers say they cannot recall a previous instance before Monday’s publication of a draft opinion in the Mississippi abortion rights case. (Gerstein, 5/2)

The Washington Post: Original Roe V. Wade Ruling Was Leaked To Press, Long Before Alito Draft
Neal Katyal, the former acting solicitor general, tweeted that if the Politico story is true, this is “the first major leak from the Supreme Court ever.” He called it the equivalent of the Pentagon Papers. While it may be the case, as Politico states, that “no draft decision in the modern history of the court has been disclosed publicly while a case was still pending,” it is not true that rulings have never been given to journalists before the announcement of the decision by the court. In fact, the result in Roe v. Wade itself was leaked by a Supreme Court clerk to a Time magazine reporter in January 1973. The issue of Time, with an article titled “The Sexes: Abortion on Demand,” appeared on newsstands hours before the decision was announced by Justice Harry Blackmun. (Robenalt, 5/2)