Leaked draft shows US may abolish abortion rights

• 

According to US media, the Supreme Court is set to end the "right to abortion" in the United States, citing a leaked draft of a majority ruling.

Politico obtained the draft, which was authored by Justice Samuel Alito and shared throughout the conservative-dominated court, according to the news source.

The draft statement labels the historic Roe v. Wade decision, which established the right to abortion in 1973, "egregiously wrong from the start."

In the draft document, Alito writes that it must be overruled, stating that "the Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely – the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."

The justice pointed to a constitutional clause that provides rights not explicitly stated in the US Constitution, which must be "deeply rooted" in US history and tradition and "implicit in the concept of ordered liberty," stressing that "the right to abortion does not fall within this category. Until the latter part of the 20th century, such a right was entirely unknown in American law."

The justice suggested that the federal legalization of abortion should be repealed and that the responsibility for regulating this problem should be delegated to state authorities.

"Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives," Alito added.

In recent months, states have tightened limitations on "reproductive rights" in the US.

Right-wing lawmakers have been increasingly anti-abortion, while Democrats, headed by President Joe Biden, have long defended abortion access.

Hearing oral arguments in December regarding a Mississippi law that would prohibit most abortions after 15 weeks, the Supreme Court's conservative majority looked likely not only to uphold the statute but also to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The nine-member court, which has been dominated by conservatives since former President Donald Trump's selection of three justices, is likely to make a ruling in the Mississippi case by June.

According to Politico, the initial draft was distributed to the judiciary on February 10, and it is unknown whether any amendments were proposed. At the same time, the Supreme Court decision will not be final until it is published, which is expected within the next two months.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research organization, 26 states are "certain or likely" to outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned.