Solano lawmakers react to leaked Supreme Court decision on abortion
Federal lawmakers representing Solano County expressed concern after a draft publication of an upcoming Supreme Court decision leaked this week.
Demonstrators gather at the Robert T. Matsui Federal Courthouse in Sacramento on Tuesday, hours after a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court indicated a major shake-up to abortion rights in the United States. (Photo courtesy Shari Rusk)
Federal lawmakers on Tuesday reacted with contempt and concern after a draft of an upcoming Supreme Court decision was leaked and published overnight.
The draft, published by the Washington-based political news outlet POLITICO, indicated a majority of the Supreme Court’s Justices would vote in favor of overturning the landmark decision Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that preserved abortion rights throughout the United States.
“We hold that ‘Roe’ and ‘Casey’ must be overruled,” Justice Samuel Alito, who represented the majority viewpoint, wrote in the draft decision released by POLITICO on Monday. ‘Casey’ referred to another abortion-related case the Supreme Court decided in 1992.
“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” Alito wrote in the draft.
On Tuesday, Solano County’s elected representatives to Congress took to Twitter to make their perspective on the issue known.
“This is a full-on assault on the right to choose, and we can’t sit idly by,” Congressman Mike Thompson said in a message on the social media website. He cautioned that if the Supreme Court hands down its decision as written in the draft, “trigger bans” passed by more than a dozen states would “immediately go into effect.”
Congressman John Garamendi said a Supreme Court decision to end federal abortion protections “not only overturns almost 50 years of established law, but will put countless women’s health and well-being in danger.”
“It is important to note this is only a draft and that abortion remains legal in all 50 states,” Garamendi said, adding that he will “work to ensure it remains that way.”
The draft began circulating among the Supreme Court’s justices in early February, according to POLITICO’s reporting. The news outlet said it was provided with the draft by a person who was familiar with the Supreme Court’s deliberative process.
Along with Alito, Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett voted to overturn abortion rights, POLITICO said. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer were preparing a dissenting opinion. The position of Chief Justice John Roberts was not clear as of Monday.
A source familiar with the court’s deliberations on the issue said none of the Justices have changed their positions since the draft document began circulating in February.
The leak of the draft offered a rare and unprecedented look into the deliberative process of the Supreme Court. A draft opinion from the Supreme Court has never leaked before. On Tuesday, officials with the Supreme Court confirmed the draft was authentic, and Chief Justice Roberts ordered an investigation into its disclosure.
“This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here,” Roberts said in a statement.
Legal experts say there will likely be an extensive investigation into who leaked the document and how they obtained it, though the leak itself was likely not a criminal act. Still, those within the legal profession characterized the rare leak as an “earthquake” that will shake the litigation world for years to come.
The leak is already causing another figurative earthquake: An impromptu women’s rights drew hundreds of people to the steps of the Supreme Court late Monday evening, a rally that lasted well into the early morning hours.
In Sacramento, Planned Parenthood organized a demonstration in front of the Robert T. Matsui federal building, drawing a crowd of around 300 people.
The rally in Sacramento came as Governor Gavin Newsom and other state leaders expressed their disappointment with the forthcoming Supreme Court decision. In a late-night tweet, Newsom said he would propose an amendment to the state’s constitution that would preserve abortion rights in California.
“We can’t trust [the Supreme Court] to protect the right to abortion, so we’ll do it ourselves,” Newsom tweeted. “Women will remain protected here.”
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