Supreme Court says leaked abortion draft is genuine; Roberts orders investigation into leak

Professional-abortion and anti-abortion demonstrators protest exterior the U.S. Supreme Court docket after the leak of a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito preparing for a majority of the court docket to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights choice later this yr, in Washington, U.S., Could 3, 2022. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft court docket opinion that may toss out longstanding abortion rights, however famous that isn't the court's ultimate choice.

Roberts ordered an investigation into the leaker.

"To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court docket was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it won't succeed," the chief justice stated in a statement. "The work of the Court docket is not going to be affected in any approach."

"I've directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the supply of the leak," Roberts stated.

The advance publication of a draft opinion is just about unprecedented for the high courtroom, the place leaks of any type are exceedingly rare.

The court shares drafts of opinions internally long earlier than they are issued publicly, Roberts famous, calling it "a routine and important part of the Court's confidential deliberative work."

The draft on this high-profile abortion case was created in February, according to Politico, which obtained the opinion.

The justices, legislation clerks and other staff of the court are "intensely loyal to the establishment and dedicated to the rule of regulation," Roberts said.

"Court employees have an exemplary and essential tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the belief of the Court docket. This was a singular and egregious breach of that belief that's an affront to the Courtroom and the group of public servants who work right here," he mentioned.

The publication of the draft opinion rocked Washington, triggering waves of shock and fury from Democrats who are actually pushing for Congress to right away codify abortion rights through laws.

Republicans decried the leak itself, and many referred to as for the type of investigation the Roberts introduced late Tuesday morning. The GOP lawmakers who commented on the draft opinion praised it for placing decisions about abortion within the palms of states as a substitute of the federal government.

The 98-page draft opinion was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, one in all six conservatives on a court that has moved sharply to the right in the wake of the Trump administration.

Alito's draft would toss out the precedent set by the 1973 case Roe v. Wade and reaffirmed in 1992 by Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Those pivotal rulings shield the appropriate to get an abortion earlier than the point of fetal viability and require that rules limiting abortion entry do not pose an "undue burden."

Alito wrote: "We maintain that Roe and Casey must be overruled."

The draft of the opinion of the court in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies's Health Group would aspect with the state of Mississippi in protection of a regulation that may ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Decrease federal courts had blocked the law on the grounds that it violates the protections established by the Roe and Casey selections.

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