Who is Samuel Alito? Supreme Court justice who reportedly wrote draft decision to overturn Roe v Wade

‘Alito, by writing this ruling, has taken the side of those who align with child rapists over their victims’

An activist with The Center for Popular Democracy Action holds a photo of US Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito as they block an intersection during a demonstration in front of the US Supreme Court (Getty Images)

An initial draft majority opinion purportedly written by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated inside the court suggests that the Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973Roe v Wade ruling which abolished abortions nationwide.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Alito wrote in the document obtained by Politico, labelled as the “Opinion of the Court”.

According to Politico, the nearly 100-pages-long draft also added: “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

If seen through, it would dismantle a nearly 50-year-old societal liberty on reproductive rights. Even though a final opinion from the court is at least a month away, the case will be among the court’s listed tasks after the summer recess is over in late June or early July.

And this could be helmed by justice Alito whose career in the US’s judicial system after serving as a lawyer and then associate justice got him a position in the SCOTUS.

He was first elected to the seat by former US president George W Bush on 31 October 2005 and was touted as a “scholarly, fair-minded, and principled” addition to the premier institution.

"These qualities will serve him well on the highest court in the land,” Mr Bush had said.

"[His record] reveals a thoughtful judge who considers the legal merits carefully and applies the law in a principled fashion," he said.

Justice Alito, Mr Bush maintained, has a deep understanding of the proper role of judges in our society.

After taking on his role on 31 January 2006, Justice Alito has served as the 110th justice in the United States. The 72-year-old finished his graduation in law from the Princeton University and Yale Law School.

The recent leak has led to a widespread condemnation of the controversial draft which could upend the course of progress made in reproductive rights.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders have slammed the draft leaked judgement by America’s Supreme Court which could end a woman’s guaranteed access to abortion.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat who represents New York City, wrote: “As we’ve warned, SCOTUS isn’t just coming for abortion - they’re coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on, which includes gay marriage + civil rights.”

“Manchin is blocking Congress codifying Roe. House has seemingly forgotten about Clarence Thomas. These 2 points must change,” she said, referring to Senator Joe Manchin.

Mr Sanders, another progressive, tweeted: “Congress must pass legislation that codifies Roe v Wade as the law of the land in this country NOW. And if there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate to do it, and there are not, we must end the filibuster to pass it with 50 votes.”

As per the polls, a majority of Americans have for at least a decade or so, backed women’s right to an abortion.

The number of abortions across the country has been decreasing for a number of years, data shows.

“Samuel Alito, by writing this ruling, has taken the side of those who align with child rapists over their victims. He has affirmed his willingness to end women’s lives rather than save them by terminating a pregnancy they cannot survive,” Joseph Robertson, executive director of Citizens’ Climate International, said.

He added: “Any person who professes any kind of support for this perverse, inhuman “opinion” drafted by Alito is signing up to those same things: forcing a raped child to give birth and killing a woman who could be saved. Alito is also declaring his willingness to nullify basic human rights.”

Republican Congressman Gerry Connolly said that by stripping off this constitutional right, the move to overturn the decision will “fracture America”.

“Samuel Alito wrote this unyielding opinion that the original 1973 decision was always wrong. By taking away a right for the first time in constitutional history, these zealots have utterly discredited the third branch of government & unleashed forces that will fracture America,” the lawmaker said.

Lawyer Daniel Uhlfelder, who is running for the seat of Florida’s attorney general, said that the language in the draft leak should shock people who care about fundamental human rights in this country.

“This horrible & backwards decision will push these issues back to the states without federal protections making it critical we elect people who believe in fundamental rights,” the lawyer said.