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The Supreme Court is set to vote to overturn the historicRoe v. Wadecase that established the right to abortionaccording toPolitico, which says it obtained a “majority draft opinion” of the decision.
The draft document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court,” also says, “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
A decision to overturnRoeseemed likely when the conservative-leaning Supreme Court decided in December to take up a lawsuit over Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Because allowing the ban to move forward would be in violation ofRoe, it raised expectations that the conservative majority on the court would vote to overturn the case. According toPolitico, Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett joined Alito’s opinion.
For more on the leaked SCOTUS opinion to overturnRoe v. Wade, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
Politicoalso stipulated that the draft opinion does not represent an official decision from the court, which will only be codified once a final opinion is published, most likely within the next two months. Votes from Supreme Court justices can change before opinions are formally released, often days before a decision is officially made.
Until then, abortions remain a constitutional right in the United States, though several states have created bans that limit the procedure based on the gestational age of the fetus.
It is not immediately clear howPoliticoobtained the alleged draft opinion, which is noted to have been circulated within the high court in February. The outlet claimed that it “received a copy of the draft opinion from a person familiar with the court’s proceedings” along with “other details supporting the authenticity of the document.”
“No draft decision in the modern history of the court has been disclosed publicly while a case was still pending,“Politicosaid. “The unprecedented revelation is bound to intensify the debate over what was already the most controversial case on the docket this term.”
PEOPLE’s request for comment from the Supreme Court was not immediately returned;Politicoreported that the court declined to comment on their story.
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The draft opinion states that the right to have an abortion would remain up to each state, though about half of states have already created laws that would ban abortion ifRoeis overturned.
The potential ruling comes at a time whenabortion rights are under assaultacross the country. In 2021, a record106 restrictions on abortionsbecame law in the U.S.
The three Democratic-appointed justices — Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — are working on one or more dissents, according to the person who spoke toPolitico.
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IfRoeis overturned, “then I would expect in fairly short order we would start to see states, particularly the South, the Plains and Midwest, look to adopt abortion bans,” Nash said. Twelve states, including Mississippi and Texas,have “trigger” lawsin place that would automatically ban abortions ifthat happens.
However, there are efforts to maintain the right to abortion, even ifRoeis overturned. Many states such as New York, Hawaii, California and Washington have statutory protections for abortion rights in their laws. And with the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government in support of abortion rights, there are plans in the works to stop the Texas ban and create legislation like theWomen’s Health Protection Act, a bill currently in Congress that would prevent abortion bans and other restrictions.
source: people.com
