by Dan McCaleb
(The Center Square / Potomac Local News) Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday that a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on an abortion rights case was an “egregious breach” of trust and would be investigated.
“We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce – permanent employees and law clerks alike – intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law,” Roberts said in a statement. “Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.”
Roberts directed the Marshal of the Court to investigate the source of the leak of the draft opinion, which Politico published Monday night. In the draft opinion, five of the court’s more conservative justices wrote that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that said a woman’s right to an abortion was protected by the U.S. constitution, was in error and must be overturned.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett signed on to the opinion, according to Politico. All were nominated by Republican presidents.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” the justices wrote in a draft deciding Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a lawsuit initiated in Mississippi, according to Politico. “The constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely – the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
The decision was “egregiously wrong from the start” and must be overturned in its entirety, the justices wrote in the leaked draft.
Reaction from locally-elected leaders in Northern Virginia was swift, as candidates in the 7th congressional race (Eastern Prince William County, Stafford County, Fredericksburg) took to Twitter to share their views.
“We voted to codify Roe in the House, and the Senate needs to take it up for a vote,” said Rep. Abagail Spanberger (D-Va. 7).
I was born into a world where women were no longer dying from back-alley abortions. As were my three daughters.
This leaked draft opinion indicates that after decades, that may all soon change.
We voted to codify Roe in the House, and the Senate needs to take it up for a vote.
— Abigail Spanberger (@SpanbergerForVA) May 3, 2022
Republican Yesli Vega, a Prince William County Supervisor vying to replace Spanberger called the leaked report historic.
What a historic moment in the making. An amazing victory in the fight for the life and Liberty of our most vulnerable, the unborn.https://t.co/PjR65t1o7A
— Yesli Vega (@yestoyesli) May 3, 2022
If the decision to allow abortion is left up to state legislatures, Democrats say those who support the practice have nothing to worry about.
“No matter what happens with the SCOTUS ruling, the 49 years of precedent for your right to safe/legal abortion care will remain in VA *only* b/c of our 21-19 Senate Democratic majority,” Delegate Danica Roem (D, Prince William, Manassas Park) posted to Twitter.
To my constituents:
No matter what happens with the SCOTUS ruling, the 49 years of precedent for your right to safe/legal abortion care will remain in VA *only* b/c of our 21-19 Senate Democratic majority.Majorities matter.
Your privacy rights and health care are on the ballot.— Sen. Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) May 3, 2022
State Senator Jeremy McPike (D-29, Prince William, Manassas, Manassas Park) also evoked a majority held by Senate Democrats and assured voters he would fight to keep abortions legal.
“I never thought I’d see the day when my daughters could have less rights [than] 50 [years] ago,” McPike posted to Twitter. “I’m fired up to ensure they have this right in [Virginia].
I support a woman’s reproductive rights because they are human rights. In VA it is legal -only by a slim 21-19 margin held by @VASenateDems I never thought I’d see the day when my daughters could have less rights then 50 yrs ago. I’m fired up to ensure they have this right in VA!
— Sen. Jeremy McPike (@JeremyMcPike) May 3, 2022
Roberts said if the leak was intended to undermine the court’s process, it would not succeed.
“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 chief justice said. “The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.”
The Supreme Court in a separate statement confirmed the draft opinion is authentic but not final.
“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,” the court said in its own statement.
Dan McCaleb is the executive editor of The Center Square. Potomac Local News contributed to this report.
