The Supreme Court may be poised to strike down the right to abortion in the United States, US media reported Monday, citing a leaked draft of a majority opinion that would represent a staggering blow to women’s rights.
The draft, obtained by Politico, was written by Justice Samuel Alito and has been circulated inside the conservative-dominated court, the news outlet reported.
The draft opinion calls the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision enshrining the right to abortion “egregiously wrong from the start.”
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Alito writes in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court” and published on Politico’s website. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
Reproductive rights have been increasingly under threat in the United States in recent months as states have moved to tighten restrictions.
Right-wing politicians have launched an assault on abortion, with Democrats, led by President Joe Biden, fighting back to protect access to the procedure.
In December, hearing oral arguments about a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared inclined to not only uphold the law but to toss out Roe v. Wade.
The nine-member court, dominated by conservatives following the nomination of three justices by former president Donald Trump, is expected to issue a decision in the Mississippi case by June.
Politico stressed that the document it obtained is a draft and opinions could change until then.
The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, has said that 26 states are “certain or likely” to ban abortion if the Roe is overturned.
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