Leaked Abortion Opinion 'Is Authentic,' Confirms Supreme Court

But the leaked opinion is not “the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”

Last night, Politico published a draft opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court that, if officially released by the Court, would overturn both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the key precedents securing a woman's constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. In a statement issued today, the Supreme Court confirmed that the leaked draft "is authentic." But the Court also stated that the leaked draft "does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case."

Chief Justice John Roberts also issued this statement:

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

We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce—permanent employees and law clerks alike—intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law. Court 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.

I have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.

We don't know who leaked the draft or why that person leaked it. Was it an outraged liberal clerk in an act of protest? Was it a furious conservative clerk who knows that the final draft will look very different from the first? All we know for sure right now is that all hell has broken loose at SCOTUS.