Supreme Court 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 choice later this yr, in Washington, U.S., Might 3, 2022. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

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

Roberts ordered an investigation into the leaker.

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

"I have directed the Marshal of the Courtroom to launch an investigation into the source of the leak," Roberts stated.

The advance publication of a draft opinion is virtually unprecedented for the high courtroom, the place leaks of any type are exceedingly rare.

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

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

The justices, regulation clerks and other staff of the courtroom 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 Courtroom. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court docket and the community of public servants who work here," he stated.

The publication of the draft opinion rocked Washington, triggering waves of shock and fury from Democrats who are actually pushing for Congress to right away codify abortion rights by means of laws.

Republicans decried the leak itself, and plenty of called for the form of investigation the Roberts introduced late Tuesday morning. The GOP lawmakers who commented on the draft opinion praised it for placing selections about abortion in the hands of states as a substitute of the federal authorities.

The 98-page draft opinion was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, certainly one of 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 right to get an abortion before the purpose of fetal viability and require that regulations limiting abortion entry don't pose an "undue burden."

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

The draft of the opinion of the court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Well being Organization would facet with the state of Mississippi in protection of a regulation that may ban nearly 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 selections.

That is breaking information. Please examine back for updates.