Supreme Courtroom says leaked abortion draft is genuine; 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 courtroom to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights resolution later this 12 months, in Washington, U.S., May 3, 2022. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

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

Roberts ordered an investigation into the leaker.

"To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Courtroom was supposed to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed," the chief justice said in a statement. "The work of the Courtroom is not going to be affected in any way."

"I've 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, the place leaks of any sort are exceedingly rare.

The court shares drafts of opinions internally long before they're issued publicly, Roberts famous, 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, according to Politico, which obtained the opinion.

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

"Court staff have an exemplary and necessary custom of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the belief of the Court. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Courtroom and the neighborhood of public servants who work here," he mentioned.

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 via legislation.

Republicans decried the leak itself, and lots of called for the form of investigation the Roberts announced late Tuesday morning. The GOP lawmakers who commented on the draft opinion praised it for putting decisions about abortion in the palms 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 docket that has moved sharply to the appropriate 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 shield the fitting to get an abortion earlier than the purpose of fetal viability and require that laws limiting abortion access don't pose an "undue burden."

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

The draft of the opinion of the court docket in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies's Health Group would side with the state of Mississippi in defense of a law that may ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of being pregnant.

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

That is breaking information. Please test back for updates.