JUDY WOODRUFF: An early draft of a coming Supreme Court decision, leaked to the public
late yesterday, suggests that by this summer, a majority of the justices will overturn Roe versus
Wade, the landmark decision of 50 years ago that established a constitutional right to abortion.
As John Yang reports, the news sent shockwaves through the court
and through both sides of the abortion rights debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN YANG (voice-over):
Demonstrators on both sides of the abortion divide converged on the Supreme Court today.
DEMONSTRATORS: Abortion saves lives! Abortion saves lives!
DEMONSTRATORS: Abortion is violence! Abortion is oppression!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eighty percent of young people want to vote on abortion.
They want it to go back to the states where they have a right
to vote on it. Let the people speak. Supreme Court let the people speak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are! We are speaking. I would have died without this law.
Just so you know. You’re sacrificing the mothers for the children.
JOHN YANG: This follows a "Politico" report that the justices are poised
to overturn the right to abortion that the court established nearly a half-century ago.
As President Biden departed for a planned trip to Alabama,
he said that outcome could have wide-reaching implications beyond abortion.
JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: It would mean that every other decision
related to the notion of privacy is thrown into question. If this decision holds,
it is really quite a radical decision. It is a fundamental shift in American jurisprudence.
JOHN YANG: In a statement, Chief Justice John Roberts said the draft opinion in
the "Politico" report is authentic, but he cautioned, it does not represent a decision
by the court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.
He ordered an investigation into the leak, which has no precedent in recent memory.
The document, marked first draft and dated February 10,
was written by Justice Samuel Alito, one of the courts most conservative members and frequent
critic of Roe versus Wade. He wrote: Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.
Its reasoning was exceptionally weak and the decision has had damaging consequences. We now
overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.
The "Politico" report said that shortly after the court heard oral arguments in
December about a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks,
five Republican nominated justices voted to overturn Roe. That would be a seismic shift both
legally and politically. Twenty-six states are certain or likely to
outlaw abortion according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights.
Michigan is one of them. But today,
the state’s attorney general said she would not enforce the law.
DANA NESSEL, Attorney General, Michigan: What I see happening is just basically not having
any abortion providers at all in the state of Michigan. And my grave concern is that
you are going to have women who are going to die for a number of different reasons.
JOHN YANG: In the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer vowed to hold a vote on a federal law protecting abortion rights.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): The Republican-appointed justices
reported votes to overturn Roe v. Wade will go down as an abomination.
One of the worst, most damaging decisions in modern history.
JOHN YANG: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of
South Carolina praised the news of the draft opinion.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Repealing Roe v. Wade, in my opinion,
is the right constitutional answer. I thought Roe v. Wade was a constitutional overstep. So, we’ll
be back into the business that we were before 1973, allowing each state to decide what to do.
JOHN YANG: But Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, an abortion rights
supporter and key confirmation vote for recent conservative justices, lamented the report.
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): If it goes in the direction that this leaked copy has indicated,
I will just tell you that it rocks my confidence in the court right now.
JOHN YANG: While overturning roe could well be the last word on the constitutional question,
the front lines in the abortion battle would shift to the state legislatures.
For the "PBS NewsHour", I am John Yang.