US Supreme Court set to overturn Roe v Wade abortion rights decision: Report
India Today
The US Supreme Court is set to overturn the Roe v Wade abortion law, a leaked draft majority opinion reportedly shows.
The US Supreme Court looks set to vote to overturn the Roe vs Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, according to a leaked initial draft majority opinion published by Politico on Monday.
The unprecedented leak from the conservative-majority Supreme Court sent shock waves through the United States, not least because the court prides itself on keeping its internal deliberations secret and leaks are extremely uncommon.
Reuters was not able to confirm the authenticity of the draft. The Supreme Court and the White House declined to comment.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft opinion which is dated February 10, according to Politico, which posted a copy online.
Based on Alito's opinion, the court would find that the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb - between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy - was wrongly decided because the US Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.
"Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each state from regulating or prohibiting abortion," Alito said, according to the leaked document.
The news broke a little more than six months before the mid-term elections that will determine if Democrats hold their razor-thin majorities in the US Congress for the next two years of President Joe Biden's term in office.