The latest: Leaked document shows Supreme Court prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade World leaders express alarm on possible Roe v. Wade overturnAbortion battleground states brace for midterm brawlCollins says Kavanaugh and Gorsuch possibly broke promise on Roe v. WadeBiden: “Radical” Supreme Court draft would threaten long-standing rights Democrats lack votes to end filibuster for abortion protections Democratic candidates call on Senate to nix filibuster for RoeSupreme Court opens investigation into Politico leak McConnell calls SCOTUS leak “an attack” on court independenceMurkowski: Leaked draft “rocks my confidence” in Supreme CourtGo deeper:Data: Axios Research; Cartogram: Sara Wise and Oriana Gonzalez/Axios
What abortion access would look like if Roe v. Wade is overturnedAbortions could require 200-mile trips if Roe is overturnedThe political leanings of the Supreme Court justicesRed states race to enact new abortion restrictionsCatch up quick: The Supreme Court is prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a leaked draft document first published by Politico.
Driving the news: Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the leaked Supreme Court draft document on the end of Roe v. Wade, but said it did not represent the court’s final decision.
Roberts said the court will open an investigation into the leak.
The document was authored by Justice Samuel Alito in February and according to Politico, Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all voted with Alito.“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” the draft states.”We can only do our job, which is to interpret the law, apply longstanding principles of stare decisis, and decide this case accordingly. We therefore hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives,” per the draft.These draft documents don’t reflect final vote tallies, but Republican-appointed justices have a 6-3 advantage on the court.The decision should be released sometime within the next two months and Roe is still currently the law though many red states have pushed ahead with abortion bans, confident the new measures will stand.The big picture: If the Supreme Court were to overturn its precedents, abortion access would no longer be federally protected and instead a patchwork of state laws would govern the procedure, writes Axios’ Oriana Gonzalez.
