Leaked court documents suggest that the US Supreme Court may be about to overturn the entire country’s legal right to abortion.

Justice Samuel Alito argues in a 98-page draft opinion that the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, which legalized abortion across the United States, is “egregiously wrong.”

If the Supreme Court of the United States overturns the verdict, “trigger laws” could immediately prohibit abortion in 22 American states.

The Supreme Court is not likely to rule until early July.

An appeal to overturn Mississippi’s restriction on abortion beyond 15 weeks is weighing on the Supreme Court, which heard arguments in December.

However, the challenge to Roe v Wade comes at a time when reproductive rights are under attack in Republican-leaning states across the country.

It triggered an outcry from Democrats, as well as rallies outside the Supreme Court on Monday night by pro- and anti-abortion activists.

Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, both Democrats, released a joint statement saying that if the story is correct, the “Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years.”

News ouThe leaked paper was published in its full by Politico, which quoted Justice Alito as saying: “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.

“And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”

The revelation has elicited no response from the Supreme Court or the White House.

An unprecedented leak

Let’s pretend for a moment that this draft opinion becomes legislation. Abortion would be prohibited in 22 states in an instant due to existing statutes and “trigger” regulations meant for such an occasion.

In the midst of an election year, the legality of the procedure would become a violent political battleground.

This is the significance of what might be going on in the Supreme Court right now.

However, draft opinions are just that: drafts. There have also been reports of justices changing their minds as the opinion-writing process takes place in the cloistered courtrooms. All of that is short-circuited by this unprecedented disclosure.

For most of the United States’ existence, the Supreme Court has functioned as Mount Olympus, issuing pronouncements from on high. As the leak grows, that opacity has been destroyed, possibly for good.

What this means for the legitimacy of the American judicial system remains to be seen, but it seems safe to infer that all trust between judges, a collegial group once referred to as “the brethren,” has vanished.

In a time when political rules have been broken up like pottery in an earthquake, another big piece has fallen down again.

Republican presidents have appointed six of the court’s nine current judges. Democratic presidents selected the other three.

According to Politico, Justice Alito and four other Republican-appointed justices – Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett – support the campaign to overturn Roe v Wade, but Chief Justice John Roberts’ vote is unknown.

According to Politico, the leaked paper is labeled as a “1st Draft” and was disseminated in February.

If adopted by a majority of the court, Justice Alito’s decision would invalidate the United States’ constitutional right to abortion, allowing individual states to outlaw the operation or impose stricter limits.

If confirmed, the judgment “would deprive half the nation of a fundamental, constitutional right that has been enjoyed by millions of women for over 50 years,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

According to CBS News, the leak will inflict significant damage to one of America’s most prestigious institutions and will almost certainly result in a full-fledged investigation involving the FBI to identify the source.

Roe v Wade, which was decided in 1973, provided women in the United States an unrestricted right to abortion during the first three months of pregnancy and limited rights during the second trimester.

The Supreme Court held in Planned Parenthood v Casey in 1992 that states could not impose a “undue burden” on women seeking abortions before a baby could survive outside the womb, which is around 24 weeks.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 630,000 abortions were reported in the United States in 2019. In comparison to 2010, this was an 18% reduction.

In 2019, about 57% of abortions were done by women in their 20s.

Black women aged 15 to 44 have the greatest rate of abortions, with 27 per 1,000.

Image Credit: Getty

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