US Supreme Court May Strike Down Abortion Rights Shows Leaked Document: Report
United States Supreme Court may strike down women's right to abortion and leave it up to each state to decide for themselves whether to allow or ban abortion.
New Delhi: The US Supreme Court is poised to strike down the right to abortion and allow each state to decide whether to restrict or ban abortion, according to a leaked draft of a majority opinion that was published by Politico, a US-based publication.
The draft was written by Justice Samuel Alito and has been circulated inside the conservative-dominated court, AFP reported quoting the news outlet. A majority of the court voted to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade verdict, calling the right to abortion "egregiously wrong from the start".
In the Roe v Wade verdict, the US Supreme Court had held that access to abortion was a woman's constitutional right.
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"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," Justice Alito writes in the document, labelled as the "Opinion of the Court" and published on Politico's website. "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives," Justice Alito said.
"The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives," read the draft.
In the US, reproductive rights of women have been increasingly under threat in recent months as Republican-led states have moved to tighten restrictions, with some seeking to ban all abortions after six weeks -- a time frame within which many women don’t even know they are pregnant.
Politico, citing a person familiar with the court's deliberations, said four other conservative judges-- Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett -- had voted with Alito, the author of the first draft of the majority opinion.
It said the three liberal judges of the court were working on a dissent ruling and it was unknown how Chief Justice John Roberts would ultimately vote.
Politico, however, mentioned that the document it obtained was a draft and judges do sometimes change their votes before a final ruling. The ruling will end federal constitutional protection of abortion, allowing each state to decide for themselves whether to ban or allow abortion.
Asked about the draft being circulated, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said: "The Court has no comment."
The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, said that 26 states were "certain or likely" to ban abortion if the Roe was overturned.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an American politician and activist, retweeted a portion of the draft and wrote, "As we’ve warned, SCOTUS isn’t just coming for abortion - they’re coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on, which includes gay marriage + civil rights. Manchin is blocking Congress codifying Roe. House has seemingly forgotten about Clarence Thomas. These 2 points must change."
As we’ve warned, SCOTUS isn’t just coming for abortion - they’re coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on, which includes gay marriage + civil rights.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2022
Manchin is blocking Congress codifying Roe. House has seemingly forgotten about Clarence Thomas. These 2 points must change https://t.co/5Isec0osV0
Following reports of a draft Supreme Court decision overturning the Roe v. Wade ruling, Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a joint statement, condemned the move by "Republican-appointed justices".
"If the report is accurate, the Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years - not just on women but on all Americans. The Republican-appointed Justices' reported votes to overturn Roe v. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history," said the statement.
A protest also erupted in front of the Supreme Court minutes after the Politico leak.
#WATCH | Protest seen in front of Supreme Court building in Washington DC late Monday night. Barricades are up around building, just minutes after reports from Politico were leaked indicating SCOTUS has voted to overturn a 1973 ruling that would make abortion immediately illegal pic.twitter.com/jusUViekuu
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2022
The nine-member Supreme Court is dominated 6-3 by conservatives following the nomination of three justices by former president Donald Trump.
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