Sunday 8 May 2022 09:38 PM Supreme Court's five-justice majority to overturn Roe v Wade is still intact trends now
The conservative Supreme Court majority that plans to overturn Roe v Wade remains intact one week after a shocking draft decision was leaked, according to a report.
The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the five justices who signed onto a draft majority opinion on February 10 stand by their votes, according to three unnamed conservative sources close to the court.
Among those who support the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and eliminate women's Constitutional right to abortion, are Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Chief Justice John Roberts, meanwhile, still seems to oppose the decision - written by Justice Alito - and is trying to get Justices Barrett and Kavanaugh to take a more incremental decision before the Supreme Court formally announces its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.
But as it stands right now, the Post reports, Barrett and Kavanaugh still support the decision, which will be opposed by Roberts and the Supreme Court's three liberal justices. It would therefore pass the Supreme Court 5 - 4.
The five justices who signed onto a draft majority opinion on February 10 to overturn Roe v Wade still stand by their votes, according to a report from the Washington Post
The draft decision was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote that 'Roe was egregiously wrong from the start'
The Supreme Court draft decision has sparked waves since Politico first released it on Monday night, with Chief Justice John Roberts confirming its authenticity the next day.
In the opinion, Alito writes: 'Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.
'It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.'
The wording may change in the final decision, the Post notes, as justices will have had time to offer critiques, dissents and revisions before it is formally announced in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case in July.
In the case, Jackson Women's Health Organization - the only abortion provider in Mississippi - seeks to overturn the state's 2018 law banning abortions after the 15 weeks gestational period except in medical emergencies and in the case of severe fetal abnormality.
The state, meanwhile, is asking the Supreme Court to allow states to ban abortions at a much earlier point than the current viability standard established by Roe v. Wade, a point where pregnancy cannot survive outside of a woman's uterus.
WASHINGTON DC: An anti-abortion rights activist confronted pro abortion rights protesters outside the US Supreme Court on Wednesday
WASHINGTON DC: Protests continued throughout the week, with these women standing outside in the rain to protest the draft decision on Saturday
WASHINGTON DC: Girls held signs during an abortion-rights Mother's Day demonstration outside the Supreme Court
WASHINGTON DC: Pro-abortion advocates rallied outside the Supreme Court after security guards set up fencing around the building
But almost immediately after the decision was released, liberal Democrats said they would fight it, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeting Monday night that Sen. Joe Manchin is preventing a vote on codifying abortion rights into law, while Sen. Bernie Sanders suggested ending the filibuster to get it passed.
Protests - both in favor and opposed to the draft decision - have also sprung up throughout the country, from small towns to large cities.
The ensuing chaos prompted security guards to install tall fencing around the Supreme Court on Wednesday evening as clashes grew between pro- and anti-abortion groups.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Abortion-rights activists gathered outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in downtown Manhattan to voice their support for
