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

Pro-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 to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights determination later this yr, in Washington, U.S., Could 3, 2022. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

Supreme Court docket Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft courtroom opinion that may toss out longstanding abortion rights, but famous that is not the court docket's remaining choice.

Roberts ordered an investigation into the leaker.

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

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

The advance publication of a draft opinion is just about unprecedented for the high court, the place leaks of any variety are exceedingly uncommon.

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

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

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

"Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial course of and upholding the trust of the Courtroom. This was a singular and egregious breach of that belief that is an affront to the Court and the neighborhood of public servants who work here," he said.

The publication of the draft opinion rocked Washington, triggering waves of shock and fury from Democrats who at the moment are pushing for Congress to instantly codify abortion rights via laws.

Republicans decried the leak itself, and many called for the kind of investigation the Roberts announced late Tuesday morning. The GOP lawmakers who commented on the draft opinion praised it for putting choices about abortion in the arms of states as an alternative of the federal authorities.

The 98-page draft opinion was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, one among six conservatives on a court that has moved sharply to the proper within 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. These pivotal rulings shield the correct to get an abortion earlier than the point of fetal viability and require that rules limiting abortion access do not pose an "undue burden."

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

The draft of the opinion of the court docket in Dobbs v. Jackson Girls's Health Organization would side with the state of Mississippi in defense of a regulation that may ban virtually all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

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

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