Five of nine U.S. Supreme Court justices are planning to vote to overturn abortion protections under Roe v. Wade, POLITICO reported Monday.
By Morgan Reddekopp and Jason Addy, Patch – May 3, 2022
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft majority opinion that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” POLITICO reports.
Alito wrote that “Roe and Casey must be overturned” and said the court must “return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
POLITICO noted that Supreme Court justices can still change their votes as draft opinions circulate and the draft majority opinion will not be the court’s final ruling until it is published, “likely in the next two months.”
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of Alito’s draft opinion included in POLTICO’s report but said “it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
Chief Justice John Roberts said “this betrayal of the confidences of the Court” will not affect justices “in any way” and “will not succeed.”
The leak of the draft majority opinion “was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront” to the Supreme Court and “the community of public servants who work here,” Roberts said Tuesday in a statement.
Roberts also ordered an investigation into how the draft majority opinion was leaked to the press.
POLITICO reported the draft opinion “is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision — Planned Parenthood v. Casey — that largely maintained the right.”
DAKOTA COUNTY, MN — Angie Craig, a U.S. representative for Minnesota’s 2nd congressional district, released a statement Tuesday in response to a leaked draft showing that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“If Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion will become illegal in states across our nation – even in the case of rape or incest,” she tweeted Tuesday morning. “We cannot allow Republicans to take away our freedoms.”
“We must work like hell to ensure that doesn’t happen in Minnesota by electing pro-choice candidates who will ensure families – not the government – continue to make these very personal decisions,” Craig continued. “I’m ready to fight up and down the ballot this November.”