(Daily Caller News Foundation) — The Supreme Court has voted to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that granted women the right to an abortion, according to a draft opinion obtained by Politico.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft opinion of the court dated Feb. 10, according to Politico.
The vote is not final, Politico reported, and the court’s holding may still change. The opinion showed that four justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — joined Alito while three — Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — dissented.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” the opinion reportedly continued. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
Chief Justice John Roberts has yet to cast his vote and it is unknown which side he will vote with, Politico reported.
Overall, the opinion is a “full-throated, unflinching repudiation” of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling, according to Politico.
But the leak of a draft opinion circulated within the Supreme Court is unprecedented, according to court watchers.
“It’s impossible to overstate the earthquake this will cause inside the Court, in terms of the destruction of trust among the Justices and staff,” SCOTUSblog tweeted Monday night. “This leak is the gravest, most unforgivable sin.”
No draft opinion of the court in modern history has ever been leaked in this manner, Politico reported.
Leftists excoriated the draft opinion while pro-life groups applauded it immediately following the Politico report Monday evening. Planned Parenthood, one of the largest U.S. abortion providers, tweeted that the draft decision was “outrageous,” but noted it wasn’t final and that their clinics were still open.
Left-wing lawmakers, including Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said the draft opinion showed that Congress must quickly pass a law codifying Roe v. Wade.
The case — Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — dates back to 2018, according to the Oyez Project. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only licensed abortion clinic in Mississippi, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Gestational Age Act, a state law which banned the vast majority of abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
A federal district court and appeals court ruled against the state of Mississippi before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in May 2021. The high court heard arguments in December.
If the Supreme Court opinion holds, 22 states have laws or constitutional amendments in place that could lead to an immediate statewide abortion ban, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Nine of these states have abortion bans still in place from before 1973 while 13 have implemented “trigger bans” that would prohibit abortions if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
