Draft Leak of Federal Supreme Court Ruling
[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to overturn the 1973 'Roe v. Wade' ruling that guaranteed abortion rights.
The U.S. political media outlet Politico reported on the 2nd (local time) that it obtained a 98-page draft majority opinion on abortion rights written by Justice Samuel Alito, revealing this decision.
Roe v. Wade is a landmark ruling that recognized abortion as a constitutional right under the right to privacy, protecting abortion rights up to approximately 24 weeks of pregnancy.
However, with the Supreme Court's composition shifting to a conservative majority during former President Donald Trump's administration, there have been expectations that the Court might overturn the ruling as it has been reviewing a Mississippi state law that narrows the abortion window to 15 weeks since last year.
Justice Alito stated, "Roe (Roe v. Wade) was egregiously wrong from the start," adding, "Its reasoning was very weak and the ruling caused harmful consequences. Rather than achieving national consensus on abortion, it intensified debates and deepened divisions."
According to the draft, the majority opinion's key reasoning is that the Constitution does not mention abortion, and no constitutional provision explicitly protects abortion rights.
The majority justices stated, "The law does not prohibit states from regulating or banning abortion." If the Supreme Court nullifies constitutional protection for abortion rights, it is expected that each state will decide whether to allow abortion at the state level.
Politico reported, "The other four justices appointed by Republican administrations expressed the same opinion as Alito during the Supreme Court conference held after oral arguments on the Mississippi law last December, and there has been no change since."
Five conservative justices formed the majority opinion, while three liberal justices opposed it. The opinion of Chief Justice John Roberts, who is classified as conservative, was not recorded in the draft.
Politico explained, "The Supreme Court ruling is expected to be announced within two months, and until then, it is not a final decision." In high-profile cases, justices often revise drafts multiple times during the circulation process or trade votes, sometimes changing opinions even days before the ruling is made public, making the deliberation process fluid.
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