Chief Justice Roberts responds to leaked Supreme Court draft opinion

Chief Justice John Roberts put out a rare statement Tuesday to address the leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion on abortion.

The Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts put out rare, written statements Tuesday to address the leak of a draft opinion showing the panel's conservative majority of justices is poised to overturn nearly 50 years of established abortion rights -- sparking outrage across the country.

The statement on behalf of the court confirmed the document's authenticity, saying, "Although the document described in yesterday's reports is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case."

In a separate statement, but released together with the one from the court, Roberts called the leak a "singular and egregious breach" of trust -- but defended the court's workforce and integrity, saying this will not undermine its operation.

"To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way," Roberts said.