Biden vows action to protect abortion rights as John Roberts confirms leaked opinion

Supreme Court ‘poised to inflict greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years’, say leading Dems

Roe v Wade protesters speak out about Supreme Court plan to drop abortion law

Leading Democrats have condemned the reported decision of the US Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v Wade ruling that legalised abortion nationwide nearly 50 years ago. Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed that the leaked draft was authentic, as President Joe Biden vowed to fight the court’s imminent decision.

Congressional Democratic leadership said the Republican-appointed justices who reportedly endorsed Justioce Samuel Alito’s opinion were “poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years,” as abortion rights

The decision indicates that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority will uphold a Mississippi law criminalising abortion care at 15 weeks of pregnancy, in the case of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation, and overrule precedents established in Roe and affirmed by the 1993 decision in Casey v Planned Parenthood.

Republican officials have meanwhile celebrated the likely demise of Roe while condemning the “leak” from the nation’s high court.

Key points

• Leaked initial daft says Supreme Court will vote to overturn Roe v Wade
• Democrats condemn ‘greatest restriction of rights’ in 50 years
• Republican governors vow to ‘protect life’
• What does the leaked document say?

[4 May 2022 15:04 · Johanna Chisholm]

So, America puts the clock back, writes The Independent’s editorial board.

If the unprecedented leaks about the inner thinking of the US Supreme Court are correct, one half of the population of the country are about to have a fundamental human right cancelled.

Distinguished lawyers, no different to anyone else, have their views on social and political matters – it would be surprising if they did not – and are subject to the same trends in the climate of opinion as any other citizen. The rise of religious conservatism in the United States over the past four decades or so has changed powerfully the social and political context of politics, and the courts, and weaponised “conscience” issues that had previously been kept out of partisan politics. The capture of the Republican Party by the religious right was the precursor and enabler of Trumpism, and the movement, with its preponderance in the less populous states, isn’t going away. Through Congress, the presidency and the courts, its growing influence is now such that it can abolish a fundamental human right.

The Independent editorial board

Continue reading the premium opinion piece from The Independent’s editorial board below.

[4 May 2022 15:17 · Graig Graziosi]

ICYMI: What Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointees said about Roe v. Wade during their confirmation hearings

Former president Donald Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court during his single term in office. During their confirmation hearings, each of them insisted that Roe v. Wade was established precedent and claimed they would uphold the law.

Those claims were either lies or the justices were very easily convinced to change their minds, as nearly all of Mr Trump’s appointees were aliged with draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Graig Graziosi has more on the justices’ shifting opinions in the report below:

[4 May 2022 15:45 · Graig Graziosi]

Matt Gaetz mocked for saying Roe protesters are ‘over-educated’ millennials with ‘no Bumble matches’

Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz was mocked on social media after he asked how many pro-choice protesters were “under-loved millennials” with “no Bumble matches.”

“How many of the women rallying against overturning Roe are over-educated, under-loved millennials who sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats, and no bumble matches?,” asked Mr Gaetz.

Social media users were quick to point out that they would rather be single and living with cats than under federal investigation for alleged sex trafficking.

Mr Gaetz has denied claims that he paid for a 17-year-old to travel with him for sex through Venmo payments allegedly processed by his accused sex trafficker buddy Joel Greenberg.

Gino Spocchia has more in his report below:

[4 May 2022 16:00 · Graig Graziosi]

Only 28 per cent of Americans want Roe vs Wade overturned, poll finds

A new poll by ABC and the Washington Post found that only 28 per cent of Americans want Roe v. Wade overturned.

If the Supreme Court should strike down Roe v. Wade, it would not only put abortion rights in the hands of the states, but it would clear a pathway for Republicans to pass federal legislation banning abortion nationwide.

Andrew Feinberg has more on the survey in his report below: