Leaked Draft Opinion Suggests Supreme Court May Overturn Roe V Wade Roland Martin

In a stunning breach of court confidentiality -- the news agency says the draft has circulated since early February.

Here's an excerpt of the opinion:
"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely- the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the Constitution, but any such right must be "deeply rooted in the Nation's history and tradition" and "implicit in the concept of ordered liberty. The right to abortion does not fall within this category. Until the latter part of the 20th century, such a right was entirely unknown in American law. Indeed, when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, three quarters of the States made abortion a crime at all stages of pregnancy. The abortion right is also critically different from any other right that this court has held to fall within the Fourteenth Amendment's protection of "liberty." Roe's defenders characterize the abortion right as similar to the rights recognized in past decisions involving matters such as intimate sexual relations, contraception, and marriage, but abortion is fundamentally different, as both Roe and Casey acknowledge, because it destroys what those decisions called "fetal life" and what the law now before us describes as an "unborn human being. "

Tthis is just a draft. Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts issued this statement on behalf of the court:

"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."

If the opinion stands, reproductive rights will vanish across the country. It would be left up to individual states to determine those rights.

Protests in front of the Supreme Court began as soon as the news hit last night and continued today. The RMU crew was on the ground and spoke with a woman who had an abortion who said if this decision happens, it's going to be terrifying.

Before heading to Alabama, President Biden said this ruling would go beyond the right to choose.

Vice President Kamala Harris released this statement:

"The United States Supreme Court has now confirmed that the draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade is genuine. Roe ensures a woman's right to choose to have an abortion. It also, at its root, protects the fundamental right to privacy. What is clear is that opponents of Roe want to punish women and take away their rights to make decisions about their own bodies. Republican legislators in states across the country are weaponizing the use of the law against women. The rights of all Americans are at risk. If the right to privacy is weakened, every person could face a future in which the government can potentially interfere in the personal decisions you make about your life. This is the time to fight for women and for our country with everything we have."

On Tuesday, Roland spoke with Candace Kelley, Legal Analyst, Elyssa Spitzer, Policy Analyst for the Women's Initiative at the Center for American Progress, and E-an-Thay Metzger, the Director of State Media Campaigns for Planned Parenthood Federation of America about the leaked draft opinion.

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