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

Pro-abortion and anti-abortion demonstrators protest outdoors 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 courtroom to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights resolution later this yr, in Washington, U.S., Might 3, 2022. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

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

Roberts ordered an investigation into the leaker.

"To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Courtroom was meant to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed," the chief justice said in a statement. "The work of the Court will not be affected in any method."

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

The advance publication of a draft opinion is virtually unprecedented for the high court docket, the place leaks of any form are exceedingly rare.

The court shares drafts of opinions internally lengthy before they are issued publicly, Roberts noted, calling it "a routine and important a part of the Courtroom's confidential deliberative work."

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

The justices, regulation clerks and other staff of the courtroom are "intensely loyal to the establishment and devoted to the rule of regulation," Roberts stated.

"Courtroom staff have an exemplary and vital custom of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court docket. This was a singular and egregious breach of that belief that is an affront to the Court and the group of public servants who work right here," he said.

The publication of the draft opinion rocked Washington, triggering waves of shock and fury from Democrats who are now pushing for Congress to instantly codify abortion rights by way of legislation.

Republicans decried the leak itself, and plenty of known as 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 a substitute of the federal authorities.

The 98-page draft opinion was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, one in all six conservatives on a courtroom that has moved sharply to the suitable 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. These pivotal rulings defend the correct to get an abortion earlier than the purpose of fetal viability and require that laws limiting abortion access don't pose an "undue burden."

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

The draft of the opinion of the court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization would aspect with the state of Mississippi in protection of a law that may ban nearly 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 selections.

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