Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts confirms authenticity of leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v Wade

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Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday said the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning the 1973 case Roe v Wade and allowing states to force women to carry pregnancies to term will not affect the court’s work going forward.

The leaked draft, published Monday by Politico, was confirmed in a statement released by the court as authentic and described as one “circulated internally” as a “a routine and essential part of the Court's confidential deliberative work” but not reflective of “a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case”.

“To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed,” Mr Roberts said. “The work of the Court will not be affected in any way”.

The Chief Justice said the high court is “blessed” to have a staff that is “intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law,” and stressed that employees have “an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court”.

“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,” he said, adding that he had directed the Marshal of the Supreme Court to begin an investigation into the leak.

President Joe Biden responded to the unprecedented leak by vowing to be “ready” when any ruling is issued by the court.

In a statement, Mr Biden said it is not known whether the draft opinion is genuine or indicative of a final decision on whether the court will overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling.

But the president also stressed that his administration “argued strongly” in favour of Roe in arguments before the court earlier this year.

“We said that Roe is based on ‘a long line of precedent recognizing ‘the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty’… against government interference with intensely personal decisions,” he said.

“I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental, Roe has been the law of the land for almost fifty years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned”.