Supreme Court docket says leaked abortion draft is genuine; 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 making ready for a majority of the court to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights determination later this year, 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 court docket opinion that may toss out longstanding abortion rights, but noted that isn't the court's ultimate determination.

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 is not going to succeed," the chief justice mentioned in an announcement. "The work of the Courtroom won't be affected in any way."

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

The advance publication of a draft opinion is just about unprecedented for the excessive court, where leaks of any kind are exceedingly rare.

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

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

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

"Courtroom staff have an exemplary and vital tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that's an affront to the Court and the neighborhood of public servants who work 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 many referred to as for the sort 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, considered one of six conservatives on a court that has moved sharply to the precise 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 Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Those pivotal rulings protect the suitable 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 maintain that Roe and Casey have to be overruled."

The draft of the opinion of the court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Well being Group would aspect with the state of Mississippi in protection of a regulation that may ban virtually all abortions after 15 weeks of being pregnant.

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

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