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 Courtroom 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 choice later this year, in Washington, U.S., Could 3, 2022. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft court opinion that would toss out longstanding abortion rights, however famous that isn't the court's remaining determination.

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 stated in an announcement. "The work of the Court won't be affected in any manner."

"I've directed the Marshal of the Court docket 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 docket, where leaks of any kind are exceedingly uncommon.

The courtroom shares drafts of opinions internally long before they are issued publicly, Roberts famous, calling it "a routine and essential a part of the Courtroom'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 employees of the court are "intensely loyal to the establishment and devoted to the rule of law," Roberts said.

"Court staff have an exemplary and important custom of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court. This was a singular and egregious breach of that belief that's an affront to the Court and the neighborhood 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 now pushing for Congress to instantly codify abortion rights through legislation.

Republicans decried the leak itself, and many known as for the sort of investigation the Roberts announced late Tuesday morning. The GOP lawmakers who commented on the draft opinion praised it for placing selections about abortion within the hands of states instead of the federal authorities.

The 98-page draft opinion was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, one in every of six conservatives on a court that has moved sharply to the correct 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 access do not pose an "undue burden."

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

The draft of the opinion of the court docket in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies's Well being Group would facet with the state of Mississippi in defense of a law that might ban almost 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 decisions.

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