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

Pro-abortion and anti-abortion demonstrators protest outside 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 courtroom to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights choice later this 12 months, 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 docket opinion that will toss out longstanding abortion rights, but famous that isn't the court docket's ultimate 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 is not going to succeed," the chief justice stated in a press release. "The work of the Court won't 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 just about unprecedented for the excessive court docket, the place leaks of any type are exceedingly uncommon.

The courtroom shares drafts of opinions internally long before they're 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, according to Politico, which obtained the opinion.

The justices, law clerks and other staff of the court docket are "intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of legislation," Roberts mentioned.

"Courtroom staff have an exemplary and vital tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial course of 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 and the community 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 immediately codify abortion rights via legislation.

Republicans decried the leak itself, and lots of referred to as for the type 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 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 court docket that has moved sharply to the appropriate 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. Those pivotal rulings shield the suitable to get an abortion earlier than the point of fetal viability and require that laws limiting abortion access do not pose an "undue burden."

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

The draft of the opinion of the court docket in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization would aspect with the state of Mississippi in defense of a legislation that will ban virtually all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Lower 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 check back for updates.