- (reporter) We have huge breaking news tonight.
And I can't even believe I'm gonna tell you what I'm about to tell you.
But in a highly-- indeed, as far as I can tell--
utterly unprecedented leak from the Supreme Court,
Politico has obtained what they say is an initial draft majority opinion
written by Justice Alito showing the Supreme Court
striking down Roe v. Wade. - This is all I really see
on social media right now. It's what I'm keeping up with.
- People that go to my school are posting about it
and giving their opinions on it. And I didn't really know
what it was originally, 'cause they were just saying,
Roe v. Wade, and I was like, "What's that?"
So then, I looked into it, and I was like, that's crazy
because that's a huge matter to be talking about getting rid of.
- I've been on TikTok maybe once or twice this week so far,
and I've already seen more than three videos
on my For You page about this from teenagers.
And it's gonna affect my age group so much if this law passes.
- And I see a lot of things on Twitter.
And yes, I know that people are gonna say, "Don't believe
everything you see on the internet," but I tend to make sure
that everything is sourced properly. I think that's something
that a lot of adults today kind of forget to do
'cause there's a lot of misinformation being spread around.
- (reporter) Quote, "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,"
Alito writes. We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,"
he writes in the document labeled as the opinion of the court.
Again, I'm reading from the Politico article.
It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion
to the people's elected representatives.
- (React) In a historic moment this past week, a document was leaked
revealing the Supreme Court's intention to overrule Roe v. Wade,
effectively making it possible for states to outlaw abortion.
Today, we've brought you in to discuss this monumental decision
from the perspective of a teen and their parent.
- The effects and the casualties of what this is gonna do
to not just adults, but to teenagers our age
because they do get pregnant-- and if they've talked
to their parents, if they've talked to counselors
about it, it's their body that they have the right
to make an abortion, not the government.
- If it does happen, any state that wants to
put their own laws on the books that allow it would take precedence
because it's at a state level and not at a federal level,
which means they don't get federal money.
There's all that type of stuff. - I think Texas said that,
like, the Uber driver could be fined for taking a woman
to the place to get an abortion. That's ridiculous!
It affects everybody, not even just women.
- (reporter) This has never happened before as far as I know,
a draft opinion in the court leaking, A.
B, this would be, if true,
the most seismic court ruling
in 50 years. - I'm 57. And yes,
I knew of girls that had it. But nobody had an abortion,
saying, "Oh, great. I'm gonna go have an abor--
and I'm gonna go party the next day."
It was emotionally draining for that human being.
- I was still a teen when I got pregnant.
I was 19. Although, I had her at 20.
I put myself in someone else's situation,
I'd respect their decisions if they weren't gonna keep a baby
as a teen mom. Do what's best for you.
- Knowing that the option was there, I think that is the similarity
that would have brought me some comfort and some some assurances
that it was available in a way that protected the mother,
the person that this really affects. - (reporter) What does seem still
to be up in the air is what will Chief Justice Roberts do,
because, according to Politico's reporting, at least,
his vote is still up for grabs. So, this would enormously
change people's lives, again, if this opinion can get to a majority.
But when justices then circulate the opinion, they still need
to get the other justices to fully sign on.
So, there have been times that, in the process of writing,
justices change their mind. Case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey
was actually an example of this, in which in the course of writing it,
there was negotiations. - Their job is to look at the law.
Their job is to analyze the law and make a decision
for the American people. I think they still need
to look at it more. - I hope this is just a draft
that should have never come out to the world
and that they'll change their mind because it's gonna be horrible
for the whole nation, for the whole world
because everybody's looking at us. - And I do hope that it could
help change the minds of a couple people
and also encourage people to vote about who our leaders are
and be able to have some change and take control
of our own women's rights and everything.
- (reporter) The fact that somebody is leaking this is telling us
that that person hopes that they can sway, perhaps,
Chief Justice John Roberts to split the difference a little bit.
Again, I'm totally speculating. But this extraordinary leak, I think,
needs to be read on its own as somebody really trying
to draw attention to what the court is about to do to the lives
of the American people. - I feel like abortion
will happen either way, whether it's the safe way or not,
which is what's just dangerous. - You know, in a situation
where the person I'm with became pregnant
and either her decision or our decision would be
to terminate the pregnancy and go to some place
that wasn't legal, you know what I mean,
that was some back alley doctor, something like that,
where all the safeguards may not have been thought of
or put in place. - There's so many reasons
why an abortion might be needed. - When I was in sixth grade,
there was an eighth grader at my school who did
become pregnant and decide to keep the baby.
And people were talking about it and all that stuff.
And it must be really hard to be getting bullied and being shamed
for having a baby and all that. - From a monetary aspect,
the support starts at birth. But there are a lot of expenses
prior to that. - A child is a big responsibility.
And I would say to the judges that it's better to not have a child
then bring a child into this world when you're not ready for it.
And you and that baby are gonna suffer,
because there's so many other factors that need to be in place.
- In terms of the birth, if it's an unwanted pregnancy
for a various list of reasons, and that child is given up
for adoption, who's gonna pay to take care of the kid?
- Orphanages are already overfilling. And I don't see any
of these people adopting. And it also takes thousands
of dollars to adopt a child. And I had no idea about that.
It is expensive to adopt. - Oh, it's expensive raising a child.
Why do you think I only have one? - (laughs)
- What are we gonna do next? I mean, are you gonna now tell people
when they can have children, when they cannot have children,
how are they going to live their life? I mean, those are very private,
personal decisions. - It really is an invasion of privacy,
because that's nobody's business but my own.
- Yeah. - Because pregnancy-- I mean,
obviously, I've never experienced pregnancy,
but I'm sure, Mommy, you know that it's an intimate experience
and not every woman can mentally handle it,
physically handle it. - Oh yeah.
- It's a lot. - I find the discussion narrow-minded
without having all of that taken into account.
- Let me read to you the full text of a brief statement
that the Chief just put out. He says, "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." He says, "We at the court
are blessed to have a workforce, permanent employees
and law clerks alike, intensely loyal to the institution
and dedicated to the rule of law. This was a singular
and egregious breach of that trust. And that is an affront to the court
and the community of public servants who work here."
And then, he says, "In conclusion, I have directed the marshal
of the court to launch an investigation into the source
of the leak." - Yes. They breached all,
you know, professionalism and ethical guidelines of the court.
I get that. And that person is gonna have
to live with those consequences. I agree with that.
But I am so thankful that that person decided to do it
in that manner because, if not, it would have been too late.
- It proves that it's a scary situation, really.
It proves that whoever did choose to leak it was aware that this
was something that was going to cause a huge fuss for everybody
and for women especially in America. - And it proves we just never know
what's going on in the government. - Yeah, we have no idea.
- We don't know what else they could be doing there,
and you know? - It's scary. It's terrifying.
- I'm trying to think how this would have taken place
if the Supreme Court would've just brought this, decided,
and then released it to the public, what kind of outcry that would
have happened at that point in time. I don't see how the justices
can view all of the protests that are gonna be happening--
that are happening and that are gonna be happening
and not see that this is wrong for the American people, ultimately.
- I think this was my first time I did a serious episode with Sierra
'cause we're usually-- it takes us like two hours
to do one episode 'cause of the amount
of laughing we do. - (Sierra) Yeah.
- There's a lot of unpacking here, Sierra. A lot of unpacking.
- For more information on the topics that we discussed,
click the link in the description. - RBG is rolling
in her grave right now. She's like, "This ain't it."