Roe v. Wade verdict: History of leaks in the abortion right case; All you need to know

On May 2, a leading US news media outlet leaked a draft decision made by the US Supreme Court that could end nationwide right to abortion. Written by Justice Samuel Alito and published by Politico, the draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 Roe v. Wade case decision which first guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights. The memo labelled as “Opinion of the Court” quotes the justice as saying “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

However, it is not the first time that a critical Supreme court decision has been leaked before being officially announced. News of the original Roe v. Wade case made it to public realms much before. Back in 1972, the then Justice of SCOTUS had written a memo to his colleague with regard to the aforementioned case which later enigmatically made its way to the Washington Post. Months later, David Beckwith, a reporter working for Time magazine made public the vote which legalised abortion across the US. 

The leak infuriated the then incumbent Chief Justice Warren Burger who later blamed a clerk for it, prompting the imposition of the “20 second rule”. According to the law, any clerk who was caught talking to a media personality was to be fired within the aforementioned time frame. 

However, even the expulsion law couldn’t deter from court leaks which continued in late 70s and 80s. It was during this time that ABC News correspondent Tim O’Brien published about half a dozen scoops on Supreme Court ruling, infuriating Burger who was still the Chief Justice. This time, he pinned the blame on the court’s print shop and ended up reassigning the typesetter he deemed to be responsible.

Why have the leaks reduced in recent years? 

In recent years, such leaks have reduced considerably. It is primarily due to the fact that only a handful, selected people are given access to the drafts, memos and other documents. As per experts, such spill out of critical information not only creates a rift between the jury but also sabotages their willingness to go forward with the verdict. Now, with the fate of thousands of woman dependent on the Abortion law, it would be interesting to see how the recent document leak shapes the course of American history. 

Image: AP