U.S. Supreme Court Confirms Leaked Draft Authentic, Not Final Opinion

Last night, a Supreme Court draft opinion in the pending case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade, was leaked. The Left is using this leak to pressure the Justices, undermine the Supreme Court itself, and make Roe permanent.

In the leaked opinion draft written by Justice Samuel Alito, it states:

Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.

The draft opinion continues:

Neither Roe nor Casey saw fit to invoke this theory, and it squarely foreclosed by our precedents, which establish that a State’s regulation of abortion is not a sex-based classification and is thus not subject to the “heightened scrutiny” that applies to such classifications. The regulation of a medical procedure that only one sex can undergo does not trigger heightened constitutional scrutiny unless the regulation is a “mere pretext {} designed to effect an invidious discrimination against members of one sex or other.” And, as the Court has stated, the “goal of preventing abortion” does not constitute “invidiously discriminatory animus against women.”

ACLJ Chief Counsel and my dad Jay Sekulow summed up what is at stake:

Someone inside the Supreme Court of the United States stole a document and leaked it to Politico. For the purposes of what? To put pressure on the Justices to get the legislation enacted [to codify Roe] and to undercut the integrity of the Supreme Court of the United States. You talk about an attack on liberty, folks, this is an insurrection inside the institution itself.

That’s exactly right. In a statement from Chief Justice John Roberts, he did confirm the authenticity of this draft:

Yesterday, a news organization published a copy of a draft opinion in a pending case. Justices circulate draft opinions internally as a routine and essential part of the Court’s confidential deliberative work. Although the document described in yesterday’s report is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.

While we certainly remain hopeful that this opinion sticks, the final decision has not been released yet, and we have an uphill battle in front of us. The Left only needs to convince one Justice. And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is already trying to sway the public opinion:

Under this decision, our children will have less rights than their parents. 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.

The Left is not the only side fighting back, though. One of our long-term clients Patrick Mahoney was present at the protests in front of the Supreme Court last night when the news broke out and gave us encouraging insight:

First of all, Jay . . . I wish you were there by me. We have been through so many of these battles, we could’ve enjoyed this historic movement. Last night there was a much larger pro-choice crowd out there. I think there was this kind of immediate visceral response. But the mood today, this morning at the Court, was completely different. There were much more pro-life people than pro-choice people. And I think the thing that was really stunning for them, for the pro-choice side, there was so many young people particularly college age women who were on the bull horn excited, pro-life energy. It was really an extraordinary moment for me being out there and seeing everything.

ACLJ Senior Counsel CeCe Heil explained how the Supreme Court cannot let the radical Left influence their final decision:

One of the most important statements was that political or public response can’t influence this decision. So, if this was a try from the Left to try to influence some Justices to change their vote, in the opinion itself says the political or public response to this opinion cannot influence what the decision is.

We have already taken action and filed three amicus briefs at the Supreme Court in this case. We’re mobilizing to defeat the Left’s attempt to undermine the Court and change a Justice’s mind on this case. We must protect the opinion to overturn Roe. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, there will be a battle among the states, and we will be there every step of the way.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more in-depth analysis of the Supreme Court opinion leak.

Watch the full broadcast below: