Roberts did not want to completely overturn Roe v. He said the Roe was “egregiously wrong from the start” and that its reasoning was “exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.” “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,” Alito wrote. Wade, the landmark 1973 opinion that legalized abortion nationwide.
The draft opinion - penned by Justice Samuel Alito and published by Politico Monday night - calls on the court to overrule Roe v. Roberts’ comments come as demonstrations on both sides of the issue have erupted across the country and supporters of abortion rights fear that states in large swaths of the South and the Midwest are prepared to bar the procedure when the court issues a final decision by early July.
The justices will meet together again during their closed-door conference in Washington on May 12.
Roberts was speaking at a meeting of lawyers and judges at the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference, while the court is on a brief recess. In his first public appearance since the leak on Monday, Roberts also said that if “the person” or “people” behind the leak think it will affect the work of the Supreme Court, they are “foolish.”
