US President Joe Biden has said he will fight to maintain access to abortion services while the chief justice of the Supreme Court orders an investigation after an unprecedented leak suggests the Supreme Court may overturn Rowe’s 1973 ruling against Wade. ., which legalizes abortion.
The leaked initial draft opinion of the majority suggests that the court voted to overturn Rowe against Wade, Politico reported late Monday.
“Rowe has been extremely wrong from the beginning,” conservative judge Samuel Alito wrote in a February 10 draft opinion, according to Politico, which published a copy.
Abortion has been one of the most divisive issues in US politics for nearly half a century. The news came just over six months before the midterm elections, which will determine whether Democrats will retain a majority in the US Congress for the next two years of President Joe Biden’s term.
Biden called it a potentially “radical” decision in U.S. jurisprudence that could have implications for other privacy rights, including contraception and gay rights.
“This goes far beyond, I think, far beyond worrying about whether he has a choice,” he told reporters before leaving for a visit to Alabama.
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In an earlier statement, the White House said it “will be ready when a decision is issued.”
“At the federal level, we will need more senators to support the election and a majority in the House of Representatives to pass legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work for to pass and sign a law,” Biden said in a statement. .
WATCH Biden complains about Rowe’s possible annulment against Wade:
Biden says Rowe’s cancellation against Wade would be “radical”
US President Joe Biden says a whole range of rights will be called into question if the Supreme Court acts on a new draft opinion overturning Rowe v. Wade’s 1973 ruling legalizing abortion. 1:59
Speaking to reporters, Biden said he was not ready to consider now whether the Senate filibuster on legislation designed to protect abortion rights – which requires a 60 per cent threshold for votes instead of a simple majority – should be repealed.
Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the draft as authentic in a statement, calling the leak “the only gross violation.” Roberts said he had ordered the Marshal of the Supreme Court to launch an investigation.
“As long as this betrayal of the court’s trust was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will fail. The court’s work will not be affected in any way,” Roberts said.
Biden said he had been informed that the draft was authentic, but that he had been informed that “it is not yet clear who will vote for it”.
“I hope there are not enough votes for that.”
There will be “tragic consequences”: a Democrat
Within hours of the news, anti-abortion activists chanted “hey, hey, ho, ho, Rowe and Wade must go” and abortion rights advocates shouting “abortion is health care” stood in front of the Supreme Court.
Protester Annie McDonnell, 19, a student at George Washington University, said: “The first line in the draft is that this is a moral issue. If it is a moral issue, you should not deprive us of our choice.”
“Justice is slipping out of my vagina,” he said in protest.
I cannot repeat this enough: this decision – if true – will have very real and tragic consequences for people in all walks of life. And it sends a terrible signal for the future of our country.
– @SenGaryPeters
The unprecedented leak has caused shock waves in the United States.
Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters reiterated this view, saying it “will have very real and tragic consequences for people from all walks of life.”
Many Republican members of Congress seemed more involved in the leak.
WATCH Expired draft opinion:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the “stunning violation” in a statement.
“The chief justice must reach the bottom and the Ministry of Justice must bring criminal charges, if applicable,” he said.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley says if a court official expires, they should be disqualified. Hawley added that, if true, the expired opinion was “extensively studied, strongly argued and morally powerful.”
The left continues its attack on the Supreme Court with an unprecedented breach of privacy, clearly intended to intimidate. Judges must not succumb to this attempt to corrupt the process. Be strong https://t.co/1Ibbe0t2I3
– @ HawleyMO
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would propose a bill that would codify abortion rights in law, seeking to be voted on next week. Such a vote is unlikely to reach 60 votes, but will force some Republicans to have to defend their votes against during the midterm campaign.
A previous vote failed to pass in the Senate in March.
Several states have “trigger” laws.
The draft decision appears to be based on an oral argument in December about Mississippi’s attempt to revive its ban on abortion starting at 15 weeks’ gestation, a law blocked by lower courts.
After an initial vote among the judges after an oral debate, one was given the opinion of the majority and a draft was written. It is then distributed to judges.
Sometimes, between the initial vote and the release of the decision, the order of the votes may change.
A formal opinion on the Mississippi case from the nine-member tribunal, which has six Republican-appointed judges, is expected before the end of June.
Protesters are sitting before the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on Tuesday after a draft majority opinion was written by Judge Samuel Alito, urging a majority to overturn Rowe’s remarkable decision against Wade for abortion rights later this year. (Evelyn Hawkstein / Reuters)
Many Republican-led states have passed various restrictions on abortion in recent years, as well as so-called trigger laws that will begin and automatically ban abortions if the Supreme Court provides the legal basis.
If Rowe is repealed, abortion is likely to remain legal in liberal countries. More than a dozen states have laws protecting abortion rights.
Earlier, California said it would look for more ways to accommodate out-of-state abortion seekers if the law is repealed.
“We can’t trust SCOTUS to protect the right to abortion, so we will do it ourselves,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Twitter, citing the Supreme Court.
This will contradict the world trend
Based on Alito’s opinion, the court will find that Roe v. Wade’s decision to allow prenatal abortions to be viable outside the womb – between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy – was taken incorrectly because the US Constitution does not mention specifically for abortion rights.
“Abortion is a deep moral issue. The constitution does not prohibit citizens of every state from regulating or banning abortion,” Alito said, according to the leaked document.
Roe v. Wade recognizes that the right to privacy under the US Constitution protects a woman’s ability to terminate a pregnancy.
The decision helped mobilize Christian leaders, leading to the formation of politically active organizations such as the Family Research Council and the Focus on the Family.
Derenda Hancock, co-organizer of Pinkhouse Defenders, was shown on Tuesday. The group is volunteering to protect and escort patients to the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi, where the Supreme Court case began. (Rogelio W. Solis / Associated Press)
The Gutmacher Institute, a selection research group, estimates that about half of all U.S. states would ban abortions if they had legal support. In 2019, the group said abortions were at their lowest level since Rowe vs. Wade due to declining birth rates, expanded contraceptive insurance coverage and increased use of drugs that can terminate pregnancies.
A 2021 study by the Pew Research Center found that 59% of adults in the United States believe it should be legal in all or most cases, while 39% believe it should be illegal in most or all cases.
If the Supreme Court offers an opinion in accordance with the Politico report, the United States will oppose the global trend. In a report from the end of 2019, the Council on Foreign Relations traced nearly 30 cases in countries this century that have expanded access to abortion services, with only the United States and a handful of others tightening restrictions.
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