FILE: US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito
(Picture: REUTERS)A US Supreme Court justice has mocked Boris Johnson and Prince Harry for their criticisms of the overturning of Roe v Wade.
The US Supreme Court last month voted to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling, which effectively stopped the federal right to an abortion in the US.
In his first public appearance, Justice Samuel Alito mocked world leaders including Mr Johnson, who had called the decision “a big step backwards”.
"I had the honour this term of writing I think the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders who felt perfectly fine commenting on American law," said Justice Alito.
"One of these was former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but he paid the price.”
He added in a sarcastic tone: "But what really wounded me - what really wounded me - was when the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to compare the decision whose name may not be spoken with the Russian attack on Ukraine”.
Prince Harry had told the UN the ruling, which has dramatically narrowed abortion access in the US, was part of a “global assault on democracy and freedom”.
Other world figures had also condemned the ruling, with France’s Emmanuel Macron saying it “compromised” women’s freedoms, and Canada’s Justin Trudeau calling it “horrific”.
The judge’s previously unannounced speech was delivered on July 21 at a conference on religious liberty in Rome hosted by the University of Notre Dame Law School.
Video of the speech was posted online on Thursday by Notre Dame.
His references to the abortion ruling were met with laughter from the audience.
Opinion polls have shown a sharp drop in public approval of the court in the wake of the abortion ruling.
The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority and has come under fire for several controversial rulings, including one which limited the federal government’s ability to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
