Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Supreme Court Reportedly Hasn't Shifted From Alito's Draft Opinion
Politico: Alito’s Draft Opinion Overturning Roe Is Still The Only One Circulated Inside Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is set to gather Thursday for the first time since the disclosure that it voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, and there’s no sign that the court is changing course from issuing that ruling by the end of June. Justice Samuel Alito’s sweeping and blunt draft majority opinion from February overturning Roe remains the court’s only circulated draft in the pending Mississippi abortion case, POLITICO has learned, and none of the conservative justices who initially sided with Alito have to date switched their votes. No dissenting draft opinions have circulated from any justice, including the three liberals. (Gerstein, Ward and Lizza, 5/11)
CNN: Justices Will Meet For First Time Since Leak Of Draft Opinion On Roe Shook The Foundations Of The Court
The Supreme Court is set to meet behind closed doors on Thursday for the first time since the astonishing leak of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.The justices plan to discuss pending petitions and outstanding cases -- but they're also likely to grapple with the aftermath of that remarkable breach of the court's confidential operations. While the draft opinion calling for the reversal of a near-50-year-old landmark precedent stunned the country, the leak itself stunned the court. (de Vogue, 5/12)
More on the Supreme Court leak —
The New York Times: Fact-Checking Samuel Alito’s Opinion Overturning Roe V. Wade
In the nearly 100-page decision, Justice Alito made or quoted assertions about fetal development, abortion procedures and international laws that have been disputed or are open to interpretation. Here is a fact check. (Qiu, 5/11)
ABC News: 5 Myths About Abortion Debunked As Supreme Court Decides Future Of Roe V. Wade
Ahead of the final decision, which is expected in either June or July, ABC News spoke to public health experts about five common myths surrounding abortion and what the statistics actually show. (Kekatos, 5/12)
The New York Times: Why The Justice Department Is Unlikely To Investigate The Supreme Court Leak
Law enforcement officials for the executive branch have legal tools for extracting information, including the ability to issue grand-jury subpoenas to compel the disclosure of testimony and records, like logs of communications held by phone companies. But it is far from clear that the justices want agents of the executive branch grilling their clerks and relatives and going through the computers in their chambers and the cellphones of their associates. As a matter of constitutional principle, they are a coequal branch of government. And none can be sure whether the leaker, if identified, will turn out to be a liberal or a conservative. (Savage, 5/11)
The Boston Globe: Women Politicians Are ‘Spitting Mad’ About The Leaked Roe Draft Opinion — And They’re Actually Showing It
Senator Elizabeth Warren rarely minces words. But as she stood before the Supreme Court last week, protesting a draft decision that would roll back the right to abortion, she showed a churning, incandescent rage, her voice gritty and determined even as it shook with fury. “I’ve never seen you so angry,” a reporter observed to the senator in a widely shared video. The unprecedented leak last week of a Supreme Court draft decision has produced a rare moment in American politics: Women in high office, long cautioned to avoid public displays of rage lest they be labeled hysterical or worse, are unleashing unapologetic, uncompromising anger. (Platoff, 5/11)
The governors of Virginia and Maryland are upset over protests —
The Washington Post: Youngkin, Hogan Ask Justice Dept. To Halt Protests At Justices’ Homes
The Republican governors of Virginia and Maryland, where the homes of Supreme Court justices have become the targets of protests, are demanding that Attorney General Merrick Garland enforce a federal law that forbids demonstrations intended to sway judges on pending cases. Demonstrators have gathered over the past week at the homes of several conservative justices, spurred by the leak of a draft opinion suggesting that the high court is preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision guaranteeing access to abortion nationwide. (Vozzella, Cox and Morse, 5/12)
Politico: GOP Governors Call On DOJ To 'Enforce The Law' As Protesters Gather Outside Justices' Homes
Hogan and Youngkin sent the letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, citing federal statute Title 18, Section 1507 of the U.S. Code, which says it’s illegal with “the intent of influencing any judge” to picket or parade “in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer.” The governors asked Garland to “enforce the law as it is written.” (Ward, 5/11)
