In a statement released on Tuesday morning, Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of a draft majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that would overturn the precedents set in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The draft was published by Politico on Monday night.
“Although the document described in yesterday’s reports is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the Court, or the final position of any member on the issues in the case,” explained the statement.
Roberts asserted that “to the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.” The chief justice also said that he had “directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.”
The draft opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, would return the abortion question to the states, allowing legislatures to pass restrictive laws for the first time since 1973. “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,” reads the draft.
While the Supreme Court and Republicans have expressed their disgust with the leak of the draft, and threat to the Court’s integrity that it represents, Democrats — including President Joe Biden — have mostly focused on blasting the would-be opinion of the Court.
In a statement of his own, Biden said that “basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned.” He also called for the election of more “pro-choice officials this November.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, by contrast, called the leak “an attack on the independence of the Supreme Court” and urged the justices to “feel totally free to do their jobs, following the facts and the law where they lead.”