According to the American newspaper Politico, the US Supreme Court would be prepared to overturn the 1973 ruling recognizing federal abortion rights.
The media relied on a major leak of documents from the United States Supreme Court published in their article Monday morning. Politico says it is a “draft,” a working document authored by conservative Justice Samuel Alito.
“We believe that Roe v. Wade (name of 1973 abortion verdict ed.) must be overturned,” states the document, which also agrees that this abortion law was “principally unfounded” and the subject of abortion “a deeply moral Question”.
“The Constitution does not prohibit state citizens from regulating or prohibiting abortion,” said Samuel Alito. “The inescapable conclusion is that abortion rights are not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions,” he added, adding that abortion rights are only “protected by some provision of the constitution.”
Conservative majority on the Supreme Court
According to Politico, that working paper went to the Supreme Court in February. As a result, the Supreme Court’s official opinion has not been released, and the judges’ votes on federally repealing abortion rights have not yet been recorded.
CNN reported that according to its sources, five Justices of the Court (out of nine) favored the termination of Roe v. Wade. However, the President of the Court, John Roberts, would not agree with all parts of Samuel Alito’s text. However, if this conclusion is accepted by the High Court, the United States will return to the situation that existed prior to 1973, when each state was free to prohibit or authorize abortion. The most conservative states, especially in the south and center of the country, could therefore quickly ban abortion on their soil.
Since the arrival of three conservative justices to the Supreme Court under Donald Trump’s mandate, bringing the number conservatives to six out of nine, the court has given several positive signals to anti-abortion advocates. She initially refused to prevent the enactment of a Texas law that, under the current legal framework, limits the right to an abortion to the first six weeks of pregnancy against two trimesters. During a December review of a Mississippi statute that also challenged the legal time limit for an abortion, a majority of its judges made it clear they were prepared to rule Roe v. Wade.
democratic reactions
The Democratic camp also reacted violently to these revelations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “The vote of the Republican-appointed justices, Roe v. Wade would be considered an abomination, one of the most serious and damaging decisions in modern history.”
Former presidential candidate against Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, also said: “This decision is a direct attack on the dignity, rights and lives of women, let alone decades of established law. It will kill and subjugate women, even though a large majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal. It’s a real shame.”
The reported votes of the Republican-appointed judges to overthrow Roe v. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 3, 2022
On Monday night, following Politico’s revelations, a crowd crowded outside the Supreme Court building to demonstrate against the repeal of abortion rights, shouting “My body, my choice!”.