Supreme Court justices.Photo: Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty
A draft majority opinion of the Supreme Courtthat circulated in Februaryand which would overturn the two landmark court cases guaranteeing nationwide abortion access is indeed authentic, the high court said on Tuesday morning — as officials there also decried the extraordinary leak and ordered an investigation into how the opinion became public.
Ina statement, the court also reiterated that the draft of the opinion overrulingRoe v. WadeandPlanned Parenthood v. Casey, was still just that: a draft.
Politicofirst publishedthe draft of the majority opinionon Monday night.
For more on the leaked SCOTUS opinion to overturnRoe v. Wade, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
The outlet reported that five Republican-appointed justices — Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas — had voted together during a private conference after December’s oral arguments inDobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case about the constitutionality of a Mississippi ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The court’s nine members regularly gather for private deliberations and informal votes after hearing arguments but before rulings (and dissents) are written and revised.
The process can be fluid in the weeks and months between that time and when opinions are officially issued, and preliminary votes in the majority and minority can both shift.
Still, the five-vote majority after December’s oral arguments inDobbswas unchanged as of this week, according toPolitico, with Justice Alito writing a draft of their opinion siding with Mississippi.
The final ruling inDobbsis expected this summer — but the draft opinion hasalready roiled the political landscapeacross the country and foregrounded one of the most debated social issues, even as pollingrepeatedly showsa majority of Americans support access to abortion in most cases.
According toThe New York Times, approximately 25 of the states would then be able to ban the procedure.
In Tuesday’s statement, Chief Justice John Roberts called the leak an “egregious breach” and a “betrayal” but insisted it would not influence the court’s ultimate behavior.
“I have directed the Marshal of the Court [who leads security, decorum and operations] to launch an investigation into the source of the leak,” Roberts said.
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He reacted strongly on Tuesday to the draft opinion being given to the press.
“We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce — permanent employees and law clerks alike — intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law. Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court,” Roberts said. “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.”
A potential ruling being leaked in this way is unprecedented in recent decades, thoughexperts sayit is not entirely unheard of throughout history.
source: people.com
