- The Supreme Court called the leaked draft authentic but preliminary
- Chief Justice Roberts called the leak a betrayal and launched an investigation
- Senate Democrats plan to vote on the abortion rights bill
WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) – America’s decades-long battle for abortion rights erupted again Tuesday when the Supreme Court upheld a draft opinion signaling it would soon overturn the remarkable 1973 Rowe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion. the whole country.
President Joe Biden condemned the expected move as “radical” as Democrats in Washington and in state houses struggled to find an answer to defend the rights women have had in the United States for nearly half a century.
Some moderate Republicans were also concerned, but Social Conservatives were pleased, even when they expressed anger that the opinion had leaked.
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Twenty-one states have laws or constitutional amendments that show a tendency to ban abortions as soon as possible if Rowe v. Wade is overturned or significantly weakened by the Supreme Court.
The court confirmed that the draft opinion, published late Monday by the Politico newspaper, was authentic, but said it was not the final decision of the judges, which should be expected by the end of June.
Chief Justice John Roberts has announced an investigation into how the draft – authored by Judge Samuel Alito of the Conservative majority 6-3 in court – had expired, calling it a “betrayal” of the confidentiality of the trial. Read more
“This was the only gross breach of trust, which is an insult to the court and the community of civil servants working here,” Roberts said, promising that the disclosure would not undermine the integrity of the court’s work.
Hundreds of people on both sides of the division gathered in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington. Proponents of abortion rights chanted “shut down our bodies” and “abortion is health care,” while their opponents responded, “Choice is a lie, babies never choose to die.” Read more
The court’s decision to oust Rowe will give many Republicans and religious conservatives a victory they have pursued for decades.
“This is a fundamental change in American jurisprudence,” Biden said of Alito’s project, saying such a decision would call into question other rights, including same-sex marriage, which the court recognized in 2015.
“If it becomes law and if what is written is what remains, it goes far beyond whether there is a choice or not,” Biden added, citing abortion rights.
Roe’s ruling recognizes that the right to privacy under the US Constitution protects a woman’s ability to terminate a pregnancy.
Biden vowed to work to get Congress to pass legislation codifying Rowe’s decision, and called on voters to support the November 8 congressional candidates who support abortion rights. Read more
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the chamber would vote on such legislation next week, although a Democrat-backed bill had already failed this year.
Against the backdrop of the Republican opposition, a razor-thin Democratic majority is not enough to overcome Senate rules requiring a super-majority to pass most legislation.
Even if the new Senate vote fails, as is almost inevitable, Democrats can use it to increase their chances in the midterm elections, in which Republicans hope to regain control of Congress.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans said they were more likely to support candidates who support the right to abortion in the November vote, according to a Reuters / Ipsos poll Tuesday. Read more
Pro-abortion and anti-abortion protesters are protesting in front of the US Supreme Court following a draft majority opinion written by Judge Samuel Alito, urging the majority to overturn Rowe’s remarkable abortion decision against Wade later this year in Washington, DC. , May 3, 2022. REUTERS / Evelyn Hockstein
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Democrats believe this will help current Democrat senators, including Mark Kelly in Arizona and Raphael Warnock in Georgia, and could hurt some incumbent Republicans, such as Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
U.S. Senators Lisa Markowski and Susan Collins, moderate Republicans who support abortion rights, have expressed embarrassment over Alito’s project.
“If it goes in the direction shown by this expired copy, I would just tell you that it shakes my confidence in the court at the moment,” Murkowski said, adding that he supports legislation codifying abortion rights.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham welcomed the news.
“If the Supreme Court overturns Rowe v. Wade, which I believe was one of the biggest seizures of power in the history of the court, it means that each state will decide whether abortion is legal and under what conditions,” Graham said. “In my opinion, this is the most constitutionally correct way to deal with this problem and the way the United States dealt with the issue until 1973.”
The person who drained the draft has not been identified.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell condemned the leak as an “illegal act” and said it was part of a “radical left” campaign, but offered no evidence.
If Roe is repealed and federal legislation is not passed, the abortion law will be determined by the states. Abortion is likely to remain legal in liberal states, while conservative states will be free to ban it.
States have already passed a number of abortion laws. Republican-led states have moved quickly, with new restrictions passed in at least six states this year. On Tuesday, the governor of Oklahoma signed a ban on abortion six weeks before many women found out they were pregnant. Read more
At least three Democrat-led countries have taken steps to protect abortion rights this year. Read more
Abortion provider Planned Parenthood said he was appalled by the draft decision, although its clinics remain open for now.
“Although we’ve seen the murals on the wall for decades, it’s no less devastating,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, the group’s president.
The case includes a Republican-backed Mississippi ban on abortion starting at 15 weeks’ gestation, a law blocked by lower courts.
“Rowe has been extremely wrong from the beginning,” Alito wrote in the draft opinion.
Roe allowed abortions to be performed before the fetus became viable outside the womb, between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. Based on Alito’s opinion, the court will find that Rowe made the wrong decision, as the Constitution does not specifically mention abortion rights.
“Abortion is a deep moral issue. “The constitution does not prohibit citizens of any state from regulating or banning abortion.”
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Report by Lawrence Hurley, Gabriella Bortter, Steve Holland and Moira Warburton, written by Ian Wolf; Edited by Scott Malone, Kieran Murray, Will Dunham and Rosalba O’Brien
Our standards: Thomson Reuters’ principles of trust.
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