The Supreme Court is expected to overturn abortion rights according to a leaked draft of an opinion published online.
The draft was authored by Justice Samuel Alito who called abortion a “profound moral issue.” The document, dated for circulation on Feb. 10, 2022, indicates that the court has moved to strike down both Roe v. Wade and 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Alito wrote. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Politico, which first published the report which is dated February of 2022, described his statements as “a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights.”
In a statement to staff members released on Twitter, Politico’s leadership said it had completed an “extensive review process” and that it was “confident of the authenticity of the draft.”
“This unprecedented view into the justice’s deliberations is plainly news of great public interest,” wrote Matt Kaminski, Politico’s editor-in-chief, and Dafna Linzer, the outlet’s executive editor. “We takeout responsibility to our reader and our publication with the greatest seriousness. Our obligation, as protected by the First Amendment, is to report the news and inform our audience.”
The court’s decision comes as a result of its ruling on Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Clinic – which challenges Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15-weeks of pregnancy.
“The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority,” Alito wrote. “We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”
The 98-page opinion also includes two appendices – one listing the statutes criminalizing abortion at all stages of pregnancy in the state in 1868 and one that lists statutes criminalizing abortion at all stages in each of the territories that became states and the District of Columbia.
The reaction online was immediate, with many speculating this news will lead to a tense standoff on the American political stage.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated accordingly.
