Reports have surfaced suggesting that judges at the US Supreme Court have backed the overturning of a landmark case which legalised abortion across the Atlantic.
HullLive reports news that website Politico claims a leaked document known as an initial draft majority opinion shows a number of judges supporting a move to overturn the Roe v Wade case from 1973. Back then, the Supreme Court ruled the US constitution protected a woman's right to have an abortion.
This remains a highly controversial decision in the country nearly 50 years later where many people who back a "pro-life" stance believe abortions should be illegal. News of the leaked document sparked rallies outside the Supreme Court last night in Washington DC from both sides of the argument.
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The document is labelled "1st draft" of the "opinion of the court" and it is unclear whether this represents the court's final decision. A spokesperson for the court had no comment to make on the matter.
The Associated Press has been unable to confirm if the document is authentic or not. It is reportedly in reference to another case - Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organisation - which challenges a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Mississippi.
The Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling in the case, and opinions — and even justices’ votes — have been known to change during the drafting process. The court is expected to rule on the case before its term is up in late June or early July.
The draft is signed by Justice Samuel Alito, a member of the court’s 6-3 conservative majority, who was appointed by former President George W Bush. "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," the draft opinion states.
"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," it adds, referencing the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v Casey that affirmed Roe’s finding of a constitutional right to abortion services but allowed states to place some constraints on the practice. "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives."
The draft opinion in effect states there is no constitutional right to abortion services and would allow individual states to more heavily regulate or outright ban the procedure. Politico said only that it received "a copy of the draft opinion from a person familiar with the court’s proceedings in the Mississippi case along with other details supporting the authenticity of the document".
The report came amid a legislative push to restrict abortion in several Republican-led states — Oklahoma being the most recent — even before the court issues its decision. Critics of those measures have said low-income women will disproportionately bear the burden of new restrictions.
The leak jumpstarted the intense political reverberations that the court’s ultimate decision was expected to have in the midterm election year. Already politicians on both sides of the aisle were seizing on the report to fundraise and energise their supporters on either side of the issue.
Until now, the court has allowed states to regulate but not ban abortion before the point of viability, around 24 weeks.
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