Court has voted to overturn Roe, according to draft opinion published by Politico

Court has voted to overturn Roe, according to draft opinion published by Politico: The Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, according to a copy of an apparent draft opinion obtained by Politico. Obtained by reporters Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward, the 98-page draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito is dated Feb. 10, 2022. It is style

Almost as big of news, this news comes via a Supreme Court leak, something that almost never happens.

In other words, somebody close to the inner circle, no doubt an opponent of this opinion, has leaked it in order to give those on the majority grief. 

The Draft Opinion is here.  Opinion.

It's 98 pages long, so it won't be light reading.  I noted that one paragraph starts off with "All of Roe's reasoning was exceedingly weak, . . ." going on to note that even supporters of the result frequently held that opinion, which is correct. This decision was anticipated, so both the leak and the surprise are, in someways, anticlimactic.

I don't know if it is quoted in the opinion, but its worth noting that it was none other than Ruth Bader Ginsberg who stated that Roe was "heavy-handed judicial intervention [that] was difficult to justify and appears to have provoked, not resolved, conflict.”  The Roe opinion doesn't really have very made friends from a jurisprudential standpoint, irrespective of a person's views on the topic otherwise.

Page 67 states the result.  The issue is returned to the states.

Epilogue 1.

It should be noted that Wyoming has a trigger law, so when the opinion is published, assuming that it's unchanged, it will outlaw (most?) abortions in the state upon publication.

I'll publish the text of the statute when I have a chance.

Apparently, according to news articles, Wyoming only has one "abortion provider", which is a tribute to those opposing it in that over time they were able to get it down to one simply through their arguments.  Some organization was going to put an abortion clinic in Casper in the near future, but this will obviously stop that.

Epilogue 2.

I saw a comment on Twitter already pointing to the staff of one of the Democratic appointed Justices, based solely on their (cited) political leanings.

So the finger pointing has begun.

It's not without some merit, however.  Somebody leaked a draft opinion, which is pretty shocking.  Who, though?

It's not surprising that people have focused right away in this direction.  A justice may have the most left leaning staff, but a person shouldn't presume too much.  It could just as easily have come, quite frankly, from a member of one of the conservative justice's staffs who disagree with the opinion.  Where people divide on this issue isn't as clean as supposed, and forty years of left leaning arguments on the case have led some to accept it pretty unthinkingly.

I really doubt that it's a justice.

I'm not sure, quite frankly, that there would be any crime.

I do agree with the comment, however, that such a leak is designed to "blow up" the court.  And I can see how that fact would have lead to suspicion in the camp looked at, given a really anemic argument made during oral arguments by the justice.  And some effort should be undertaken to figure out who the leaker was, and to punish them in some form, with that form depending upon their position in regard to the court.

Epilogue 3

Epilogue 4

The text of the Wyoming "trigger law".

ORIGINAL HOUSE ENGROSSED

BILL NO. HB0092

 

ENROLLED ACT NO. 57, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

SIXTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING

2022 BUDGET SESSION

 

 

 

 

AN ACT relating to abortion; limiting the circumstances under which an abortion may be performed; limiting the use of appropriated funds; providing a delayed effective date pending certification by the governor of actions of the United States supreme court; requiring reports; and providing for an effective date.

 

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

 

Section 1.  W.S. 35‑6‑102 and 35‑6‑117 are amended to read:

 

35‑6‑102.  Abortion restrictions; exception.

 

(a)  An abortion shall not be performed after the embryo or fetus has reached viability except when necessary to preserve the woman from an imminent peril that substantially endangers her life or health, according to appropriate medical judgment. This subsection is repealed on the date that subsection (b) of this section becomes effective.

 

(b)  An abortion shall not be performed except when necessary to preserve the woman from a serious risk of death or of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including any psychological or emotional conditions, or the pregnancy is the result of incest as defined by W.S. 6-4-402 or sexual assault as defined by W.S. 6-2-301. This subsection shall be effective five (5) days after the date that the governor, on advice of the attorney general, certifies to the secretary of state that the supreme court of the United States has overruled Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) in a manner that would authorize the enforcement of this subsection or has otherwise issued a final decision related to abortion that would authorize the enforcement of this subsection in accordance with that decision and without violating any conditions, rights or restrictions recognized by the supreme court.

 

(c)  For purposes of subsection (b) of this section the attorney general shall review any final decisions of the supreme court of the United States related to Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) or otherwise related to abortion to determine whether the enforcement of subsection (b) of this section would be fully authorized under that decision. The attorney general shall, within thirty (30) days of the date of the final decision of the supreme court, report the results of each review under this subsection to the joint judiciary interim committee and the governor who may, if applicable, certify the results of the review to the office of the secretary of state.

 

35‑6‑117.  Use of appropriated funds for abortion prohibited; exceptions.

 

(a)  No funds appropriated by the legislature of the state of Wyoming shall be used to pay for abortions except when the pregnancy is the result of incest as defined by W.S. 6‑4‑402 or sexual assault as defined by W.S. 6‑2‑301 if the assault is reported to a law enforcement agency within five (5) days after the assault or within five (5) days after the time the victim is capable of reporting the assault, or when the life of the mother would be endangered if the unborn child was carried to full term. This subsection is repealed on the date that subsection (b) of this section becomes effective.

 

(b)  No funds appropriated by the legislature of the state of Wyoming shall be used to pay for abortions except when necessary to preserve the woman from a serious risk of death or of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including any psychological or emotional conditions, or the pregnancy is the result of incest as defined by W.S. 6-4-402 or sexual assault as defined by W.S. 6-2-301. This subsection is effective on the same date that W.S. 35‑6‑102(b) is effective.

 

Section 2.  

 

(a)  After receiving certification from the governor that W.S. 35‑6‑102(b) is effective as provided in that subsection, the secretary of state shall report that fact to the management council of the legislature, the joint judiciary interim committee and the Wyoming state board of medicine and shall immediately publish the effective date of W.S. 35‑6‑102(b) and 35‑6‑117(b) on the website of the secretary of state's office, which effective date shall be five (5) days after the date that the secretary of state received the certification. The publication under this section shall also provide that W.S. 35‑6‑102(a) and 35‑6‑117(a) are repealed on that date.

 

(b)  After receiving a report under subsection (a) of this section, the joint judiciary interim committee shall review the provisions of title 35, chapter 6 of the Wyoming statutes to determine if any additional revisions to the statutes are advisable and to develop any necessary legislation.

 

Section 3.  This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

 

(END)

 

 

Speaker of the House			President of the Senate

 

	Governor
	TIME APPROVED: _________
	DATE APPROVED: _________

 

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

 

 

 

Chief Clerk