Supreme Court docket says leaked abortion draft is genuine; 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 getting ready for a majority of the court to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights resolution later this yr, in Washington, U.S., May 3, 2022. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft courtroom opinion that would toss out longstanding abortion rights, however noted that isn't the court docket's final decision.

Roberts ordered an investigation into the leaker.

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

"I have directed the Marshal of the Court docket to launch an investigation into the source of the leak," Roberts said.

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

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

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

The justices, legislation clerks and different staff of the court are "intensely loyal to the institution and devoted to the rule of regulation," Roberts stated.

"Court docket workers have an exemplary and necessary custom 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 trust that is an affront to the Court docket and the group of public servants who work right here," he stated.

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

Republicans decried the leak itself, and plenty of called for the type of investigation the Roberts introduced late Tuesday morning. The GOP lawmakers who commented on the draft opinion praised it for putting choices about abortion within the arms of states as an alternative of the federal government.

The 98-page draft opinion was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, one in every of six conservatives on a courtroom that has moved sharply to the best 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 Deliberate Parenthood v. Casey. These pivotal rulings defend the appropriate to get an abortion earlier than the point of fetal viability and require that regulations limiting abortion entry don't pose an "undue burden."

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

The draft of the opinion of the court in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies's Health Organization would facet with the state of Mississippi in defense of a legislation that would ban nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of being pregnant.

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

That is breaking information. Please examine again for updates.