Supreme Court docket says leaked abortion draft is genuine; Roberts orders investigation into leak

Professional-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 preparing for a majority of the court docket to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights resolution later this yr, in Washington, U.S., Might 3, 2022. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft courtroom opinion that would toss out longstanding abortion rights, but noted that is not the court docket's last determination.

Roberts ordered an investigation into the leaker.

"To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended 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 won't be affected in any means."

"I have 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 nearly unprecedented for the high court, the place leaks of any kind are exceedingly rare.

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

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

The justices, regulation clerks and different workers of the court are "intensely loyal to the establishment and dedicated to the rule of regulation," Roberts stated.

"Courtroom staff have an exemplary and vital custom of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial course of and upholding the trust of the Courtroom. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that's an affront to the Court docket 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 at the moment are pushing for Congress to immediately codify abortion rights by laws.

Republicans decried the leak itself, and many referred to as for the form of investigation the Roberts announced late Tuesday morning. The GOP lawmakers who commented on the draft opinion praised it for placing choices about abortion within the hands of states as a substitute of the federal authorities.

The 98-page draft opinion was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, one in all six conservatives on a courtroom that has moved sharply to the fitting in 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. These pivotal rulings defend the appropriate to get an abortion earlier than the purpose of fetal viability and require that laws limiting abortion entry do not pose an "undue burden."

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

The draft of the opinion of the court docket in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies's Health Group would aspect with the state of Mississippi in protection of a law that will ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

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

That is breaking information. Please examine back for updates.